Noah Donohoe: New book dismissed as ‘hurtful, self-serving speculation’

The 14-year-old’s body was recovered near the M2 motorway in June 2020, six days after he went missing in the north of the city.

The Donohoe famiy has backed a campaign calling for a more thorough investigation amid concerns around the police investigation, however, Noah’s mum Fiona said the book’s publication goes against the wishes of her family.

‘The Noah Donohoe Scandal’ has been written by Donal Lavery, who regularly publishes articles on the Jude Collins blog site.

The book’s blurb states: “June 2020. The location: a suburban, Loyalist heartland renown for right-wing extremism and sectarian murder-gangs forming the infamous ‘murder mile’ in North Belfast, where brutal hate crimes on youths had recently occurred.”

Describing the author, it says: “Dónal Lavery was born in North Belfast in 1991. After university, he has worked as a Civil Servant and in the financial sector. He has spent the last four years as a part-time Commentator and is never afraid to express a view on any of the big issues of the day.”

Plans for a full inquest hearing in January have been postponed due to a number of preliminary matters arising, family lawyer Niall Murphy told an earlier hearing.

“Clearly there are outstanding matters to be addressed and the court may have a better idea at that stage, both in respect of disclosure and the ongoing inquiries with respect to health and safety issues, as to whether they may impact on progress,” he said.

In July last year, Coroner Joe McCrisken branded some of the social media commentary around Noah’s death as inaccurate, baseless and potentially criminal.

In a Facebook post on Thursday night, Fiona Donohoe said: “I have been made aware there is a book that is in the public domain ..using my son’s name on the cover.

“The author has had no endorsement from our family...to the contrary it is against the wishes of our family.

“Noah’s case is ongoing ...this book has no place in our campaign for answers for my Noah.”

A number of scathing comments have been left on the ‘read reviews’ section of the Amazon web page.

One typical response says: “Complete work of fiction intended to stir up hatred against the Protestant community of North Belfast.”

A widespread cross-community search effort took place in the days following Noah’s disappearance.

DUP and other elected representatives joined the search before Noah’s body was eventually discovered in a storm drain.

In a statement on Thursday night, a North Belfast DUP spokesman said: “This disgraceful publication is an insulting and hurtful piece of self-serving speculation. The author indulges his own prejudice against the community where hundreds of people joined the search for young Noah and where everyone’s heart-felt sympathy remains with his grieving mother and family.

“We note that Fiona Donohoe has made clear that her family ‘are in no way endorsing anything in this book’ and that they ‘were trying to stop it being published.’”

The statement adds: “It is shameful that those associated with this book have published it against the stated wishes of the Donohoe family. It serves no good purpose.

“We call on the community to remain united in support of Noah’s family and reiterate our appeal for any relevant information to be brought forward to assist the police investigation.”

READ: Coroner demands end to inaccurate speculation about schoolboy’s death

READ: Police investigating ‘health and safety issues’ over Noah Donohoe death

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