MY thoughts are with the family of Noah Donohoe. It pains me and anyone else with a shred of empathy that nothing has been done to reveal the truth about what happened to the 14-year-old boy who was a pupil at St Malachy's.
Noah is our Stephen Lawrence – that’s if we pay attention to William Macpherson's report on institutional racism. There is a laxity in the investigations about Noah that reminds me of the aftermath of the Lawrence investigations. No-one is interested. No one is talking about Noah – the political class, the media, the state machinery – and this is enough for the family to feel wronged.
The fact that Noah was a mixed race child lends credence to the fears about why the PSNI is not expediting this and showing greater interest in justice for Noah.
Incompetence by the PSNI is incredible and the Noah investigation is a case in point. Yes, that police force might have some of the best, well-meaning officers who just want to discharge their duties, but on Noah's fate they have let down whole communities.
The Black community is very traumatised by the sad story of Noah and its after-effects. Many black people here in the North, many mixed race children, were concerned about their safety when Noah died and yet nothing plausible was said by the authorities about the whole traumatic incident. Indeed, some families are so careful with the safety of their children that they have decided that certain parts of the city of Belfast are no-go! It shouldn't be like that.
There should be an official inquiry into the death of Noah Donohoe because there have been dozens of public rumours since Noah's body was found in June 2020 and people deserve the truth. Are the people of Belfast supposed to digest the reports that Noah simply drowned? What happened before and after that? Do they think that people are stupid? It is scary that different agencies have had answers about this tragedy, except the truth that the family of Noah wants to hear.
What justice is this? Why was the PSNI particularly interested in holding back some material information about Noah? We all should know. Imagine this was your child. Poor Fiona. This is a fight that is only beginning and the people of Belfast and Northern Ireland as a whole feel strongly about.
Only a real fool would accept things as they stand. As for me and many? No way.
• I met a Nelson Mandela devotee at the local elections last week.
Simon Smith is a Green Party activist. He has Mandela's prison number tattooed on his chest. He had just witnessed a racial and xenophobic attack against me outside Elmgrove Primary School in East Belfast. It is good to say that Simon and the DUP and Alliance candidates stood up for me!
Belfast can be a very tough place for us.
ellyomondi@gmail.com
Twitter: @EllyBelfast