Noah Donohoe: the latest news is very bad

[MNettersForNoahAndFiona]

Many Mumsnetters will have already seen and kindly supported my threads and those of others about the disappearance and death of young Noah Donohoe in Belfast in June 2020. For those who haven't, Noah's naked body was retrieved from a drain after he had been missing for 6 days. Two years later, his grieving mother Fiona, with her sister Niamh at her side, is still having to fight for the truth about her adored son's disappearance and death and for justice for him.

Yesterday, Fiona was given official notice by the government/NIO that a Public Interest Immunity Certificate has been granted. It was signed by the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Shailesh Vara, MP for North West Cambridgeshire. This means that the police/PSNI are allowed to keep hundreds of pages of information from their botched investigation into the disappearance and death of this innocent and precious child secret. It was received by the police/PSNI and Crown Solicitors Office on the 19th July and his mother was not told for over a week.

Mr Vara was appointed after Brandon Lewis resigned from Boris Johnson's cabinet. He has only been in his post as NI Secretary for two weeks. This is not a good start. Signing the PII Certificate so swiftly indicates to me that he has not taken due time and care to learn all the facts in Noah's case. I think anyone who concludes from this that Mr Vara is just a government and police puppet could be forgiven.

For those Mumsnetters not in Northern Ireland who believe that PII Certificates don't concern you, a PII Certificate application from the police/PSNI protected Robert Howard, a known prolific and violent child killer and rapist. It allowed him to travel to England, Scotland and Ireland. He was only brought to justice when he raped and killed a child in Kent. This is only one example of many.

If you are not outraged, then you have not been paying attention. What can you do? Please think about this and do what you can. Please join us in raising awareness about Noah on social media, with your own government representatives and mainstream media. If you want to contact Shailesh Vara directly about Noah's case:
members.parliament.uk/member/1496/contact
Email at NIO: [email protected]
He is also on Twitter:
twitter.com/ShaileshVara

Here is a factual and reliable pinned Twitter thread for people new to Noah's story or wanting to know more:
mobile.twitter.com/MarymoBelfast/status/1370453351616425985
Here is Fiona's podcast:

Here is a Channel 4 News report: www.channel4.com/news/noah-donohoe-family-seek-answers-over-belfast-teenagers-death And please, if you haven't already, do still join the 309,146 people who have showed they care by signing Fiona's petition. Link in the OP of this thread: www.mumsnet.com/talk/petitions_noticeboard/4573833-noah-donohoe-his-mothers-fight-for-the-truth-and-justice-please-help-stop-the-police-coroner-and-brandon-lewis-from-keeping-investigation-files-into-the-death-of-a-child-secret-thread-3?

Thank you sincerely for reading and for your support. 💙

TLDR:
As Marion Wright Edelman said, if we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much. Shame on you, Shailesh Vara. AIBU?

Given that this thread has clearly been discussed at MNHQ, can I assume any concerns about it being prejudicial have been addressed, and dismissed? Because otherwise I’m guessing it would have been deleted, or taken down while the lawyers checked it out, not just moved?

Bump

💙 A bump for Noah.

Thanks for posting your support, @Floisme
It's not prejudicial to any proceedings. I've been very careful about that. If anyone had posted anything that was, then I would have PM'd them and requested that they please withdraw their post. I'm certain that is not the reason the thread has been moved and MNHQ have not given that as a reason either. It is one of the things that reports from people with an axe to grind in all probability will have complained to MNHQ about though, 'warning' them, allegedly in good faith. MNHQ just want a quiet life and reports add up, even if from the same vocal tiny minority of posters.

It is, @Harridan1981 - thank you for posting your support.
I can see that my previous post quoting and agreeing with you has been deleted. I added the name of the other mod involved in the decision, which is hardly a secret when I could post the emails sent, and also questioned who else had been involved in the decision because I have previously experienced a lack of support from one person about my threads for Noah.

Thank you @hedgehoglurker

Great news @EmeraldShamrock1 - thank you 💙

Thank you @ClinkeyMonkey

Yes. A full week in AIBU with 350 voting, the vast, vast majority of over 300 posts supportive and almost no deletions. That's pretty good for AIBU in my experience. And yet, suddenly, it's suggested the thread is moved to Chat. Then after requests not to move it, it can stay. Then, suddenly, after only a few minutes, it is moved without discussion or notice. Not even to Chat, but to the quiet backwater board of Petitions. What changed, exactly? Here, it is likely it won't be seen by potential new posters and supporters, existing ones might struggle to find it and it will rarely be in Active as a thread with over 300 posts. But some of us have been here before with threads for Noah, haven't we?

Thankfully there is still a lot of love around for Noah.

From Councillor Raymond Barr and Mrs Donna Barr:
Thanks to Works Coffee Roasters, the Hillsborough action group Liverpool and local businesses/ groups/ individuals in Strabane we are running 2 FREE buses to the Rally for Noah in Belfast on 13th Aug 2022.
STRICTLY NO ALCOHOL ON BUSES.
Thank you to all.
💙⚡️💙⚡️💙

Op is it possible that the link to the petition thread was against some rule or other? I've seen other threads where they tell you where to find a petition but don't link directly and I've always assumed it was to avoid breaking site rules. Just a thought - I can see this isn't the first time this has happened.

On the plus side, the AIBU thread will have been seen by a lot of new people - including me - plus hundreds more who didn't post.

Being moved must be frustrating. Sending love to Noah's family and friends 💙💙💙

No @Floisme it's not that. We are allowed to post a link to any another thread on MN, so linking to the existing MN thread about the petition was fine, especially as it is only a small part of the OP of this now-moved thread. We can't post a direct link to the Change website except on threads on this petitions and activism board, that is all, and so we didn't do that. The main focus, the centre, of this thread is the huge news about the signing of the PII Certificate by Shailesh Vara. We're allowed to post news and opinions in support of this mother. As we know from the shocking Robert Howard case, PIIs can have devastating consequences for people throughout the UK and Ireland, not just Northern Ireland. It's what Mumsnet is meant to be about, supporting parents, especially mothers. Fiona is a mother who desperately needs our support after a devastating and tortuous two years. Threads about Noah have always attracted a small number of very vocal complainers, for reasons best known to themselves - but we see them. It is disappointing that it is happening here on Mumsnet. But then mothers didn't help Noah when they saw him naked, or even report it at the time to get him help - this is a known and accepted fact and already in the public domain, not speculation.

I'm not saying that the complainers on here are trolls, but Fiona is trolled regularly. Attempts, warnings and threats are made to keep her quiet. It won't work until she gets the truth and justice for Noah.

On the plus side, the AIBU thread will have been seen by a lot of new people - including me - plus hundreds more who didn't post.
Yes, I've been thinking that too, thank you.

*to any other thread

Thank you @SummerDays2020 💙

Ah I see op - I was thinking about a link to the Change website but, as you say, you didn't do that, sorry.

I'm not going to speculate about what might be going on but, if anyone seriously thinks a bereaved mother is going to keep quiet, well that is very foolish indeed.

More love, support and respect being shown for Noah Donohoe, Fiona and Niamh, this time by the good people of Dungannon and the wider south Tyrone area:

Local women, helped by Dungannon Councillor Barry Monteith, have organised a vigil in solidarity with the family of Noah Donohoe to be held at 6pm in Market Square, Dungannon tomorrow (Friday, 5th August 2022).

All welcome, including children.

I'm so disappointed that this was moved from AIBU @MNHQ . It took a long time to find Petitions in mumsnet, despite searching.

I signed the Change petition a long time ago, and have been following this devastating story from England since the young innocent child, Noah was missing. My heart is with the family.

Another free bus added for Belfast on Saturday 13th August to support the Donohoe family, this one from Newry is anyone needs a seat - open to parents and young people:

Thank you @hedgehoglurker 💙

if anyone seriously thinks a bereaved mother is going to keep quiet, well that is very foolish indeed.
And yet they keep trying @Floisme

Thankfully, Fiona and Niamh are not alone in dealing with this now.

Very pleased to report the petition against the PPI Certificate now has 316,152 signatures and still climbing steadily. Please continue to sign or sign and and share widely if you can, and don't forget to confirm your signature for it to be counted. Thank you.

Good to see the petition numbers rising. (Bump.)

It is - thank you @hedgehoglurker 💙

Very well done to the Strabane Chronicle: