THOUSANDS of people gathered at the City Hall on Saturday to protest over a a PSNI application to withhold some information from an inquest into the death of Noah Donohoe.

The 14-year-old St Malachy's College pupil was found dead in a storm drain in North Belfast in June 2020, six days after reported missing.

A Public Interest Immunity (PII) certificate has been signed by Northern Ireland Secretary Shailesh Vara.

Under the PII process, 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. A PII certificate is usually applied for in cases involving national security and/or informants.

The schoolboy's mum Fiona thanked "Noah's Army" for turning up in huge numbers at Belfast City Hall.

Speaking at the protest, North Belfast Sinn Féin MP John Finucane branded the PSNI and British government’s use of a Public Interest Immunity certificate to conceal information on the death of Noah Donohoe ‘shameful’ and said his family deserve truth and transparency. 

“I want to begin by thanking Fiona and her family for inviting me to speak to so so many of you today on behalf of Sinn Féin, as we all gather to show Fiona, to show the world, that we all stand with her as she continues to battle for truth and justice for her beloved Noah," he said.

“As we know, the legal process which Fiona and her legal team are preparing for next, is an inquest. A process which has the potential to examine all of the issues, all of the questions that need to be answered, in a fair and transparent manner. 

“Because make no mistake about it, there are serious questions that remain unanswered concerning every single aspect of Noah’s disappearance and the subsequent investigation. 

“This is all now before the court, and it is right that Fiona and her team meet that in the way that they think is best. But I will return to one word I used to describe a legal process, an inquest, that provides credibility and confidence.

“That word is transparency.

“Justice demands openness, and justice demands transparency. When we speak of Noah and Fiona’s search for truth, we speak of the need for a light to be shone revealing everything we still don’t know about what happened to him. 

“We need, and we are here today to demand, that justice is done for Fiona and her family, that much is both fair and obvious, but we are also here to demand that justice is seen to be done. 

“Seen to be done for the thousands of us here who rightfully have questions to ask about why and how Noah died, and what the nature and standard of the investigation into his death was exactly.

“That is why the PSNI’s request, and the British Secretary of State’s agreement, to use a Public Interest Immunity certificate (PII) is both wrong, and shameful."

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll, who also spoke at the protest, called on Policing Board members to sever ties with the PSNI due to police mishandling of Noah’s case.

“There should be no backroom discussions with the PSNI until the PII is scrapped and there is a proper, transparent attempt to get justice for Noah Donohoe,” he stated.

“If there are members of the policing board here today, then I would call on them and their colleagues to resign from that board.

“Severing that link with the PSNI would send a strong message to this campaign and to the Donohoe family that you will not be associated with a process which attempts to withhold information from a mother about the death of her son.”

Mr Carroll earlier called for the resignation of PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne, and echoed the Donohoe family’s call for the withdrawal of the PII.

“All the Donohoe family is asking for is the truth,” he told protesters. 

“All we want is the truth. If the PSNI is certain about how Noah died, why are they unwilling to release key information which would allow Fiona, Niamh and their family to move on?”