Mayor of Derry and Strabane Sandra Duffy has called on Secretary of State Shailesh Vara to reverse his decision to approve a Public Interest Immunity (PII) certificate which would conceal information in the Noah Donohoe case.
Ms Duffy joined a large protest against Mr Vara’s decision and in support of the teenager’s family outside Derry’s Strand Road PSNI station yesterday. Fourteen-year-old Noah was found dead in a storm drain in Belfast six days after he went missing in 2020.
Noah’s mother Fiona Donohoe, originally from Strabane, has called for all information surrounding her son to be released for an inquest into his death. However, in one of his first actions as secretary of state, Mr Vara approved the PII certificate which would block some information deemed sensitive.
Under the PII process, that material will be made available in limited form to interested parties at a preliminary inquest hearing. It will then be up to the coroner to rule on whether or not immunity status should be granted. Ms Donohoe has launched a petition against the use of PII certificates in her son’s case.
Ms Duffy said she would continue to support Ms Donohoe and her family in their campaign for “justice and truth”.
She said: “It is vitally important that Fiona Donohoe and her family and friends get the full truth about the death of 14-year-old Noah Donohoe and there is open and transparency throughout this process.
“I will continue to stand with Fiona Donohue and her family in their campaign for justice and truth. They deserve nothing less. We need to join together to oppose any effort to cover up the circumstances of Noah’s death.”
