Noah Donohoe ‘excited for the future’ in days prior to death, friend tells court

Noah Donohoe was “excited for the future” in the days prior to his disappearance, one of his best friends has told an inquest.

Jay Tierney described Noah as “eccentric but not in a bad way” and “unpredictable”, saying the pair supported each other during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Noah was 14 when he was found dead in a storm drain in north Belfast in June 2020, six days after leaving home on his bike to meet Jay and another friend to travel to the Cave Hill area of the city.

His mother Fiona Donohoe, who has led a high-profile campaign for answers, was in the courtroom on Monday for the second day of evidence in the inquest.

Mr Tierney said Noah was the “most intelligent human being I’ve ever met in my life” telling the court they would have almost daily Skype calls, some as long as eight hours.

He said Noah was “perpetually inquisitive”, and frequently recommended books like George Orwell’s 1984, and made him playlists of classical music.

Mr Tierney was asked by counsel for the coroner, Peter Coll KC and Donal Lunny KC representing the PSNI, about Noah’s mental health in the days leading up to his death.

He said his friend had “rough patches, same as any other person in lockdown” but was “very excited for the future, very happy, very energetic”.

He said they were “very open” with each other, and messages were read to the inquest where they spoke about their mental health.

On June 13 Noah wrote in a message: “I didn’t want to face problems about how I actively try to suppress my emotions and how I was proud of that but I realise now that that mindset doesn’t make sense and that I was thinking that way because I was in denial about it and it affected my mental health in negative ways without me realising it.

“So I’m gonna be honest about everything I think and honest with myself from now on cause I don’t want to be in denial about anything.”

A thread of Instagram messages between Mr Tierney and Noah on June 19 was read to the inquest, where Noah said “dude I’m sorry I’ve been really up and down the last few days, I’ve just been thinking about life in general” and “sorry I’ve been cold with you”.

Mr Tierney replied saying he had not felt that Noah had been cold with him, to which Noah replied “talking to you has probably been the thing that has helped me the most”.

Mr Tierney told the inquest the pair were frequently open about their emotions and the interaction “seems very positive from this and that’s what I took from it at the time”.

He said that they went on a long walk around Belfast on June 20, the day before Noah went missing.

Noah chatted with him about a book, 12 Rules For Life by Jordan Peterson, but would not tell him what it was called because he felt Mr Tierney “didn’t need it”.

Mr Tierney also referenced a quote ‘risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing’ that he said he and Noah had talked about that day, and was then printed in his funeral booklet.

He said Noah “was very positive” and talked about taking risks, such as moving to London, not in a “daring or bad way” but as a way to build confidence.

Mr Tierney also told the inquest that Noah was very confident on his bike and had a very strong sense of direction, leading the pair around Belfast easily.

Brenda Campbell KC, representing Ms Donohoe, asked Mr Tierney about his own mental health during the Covid-19 lockdown.

She read previous messages where Mr Tierney had spoken about his mental health to Noah and asked if “all kids experience ups and downs in lock down”, to which Mr Tierney replied “100% yes, I did myself”.

In a 999 call played to the inquest last week, Ms Donohoe told police Noah had “not been himself” and she was concerned for his safety.

Deirdre McCusker, now principal at St Malachy’s College, was vice-principal at the time of Noah’s disappearance.

She told the court on Monday she received a call from Ms Donohoe worried that Noah’s motivation in school had dropped, but Ms McCusker felt that even for an “excellent student” like Noah it was not out of the ordinary for work not to be submitted during Covid-19 lockdown.

She said she advised that Noah could come for assisted study or counselling but that prior to his mother’s call, no one had raised concern about Noah’s academic performance or attitude.

Noah’s cello teacher Andrew Nesbitt told the inquest his pupil had missed his online cello submission on June 18, which was “out of character” and he wasn’t his “usual animated self”, but that most students were not on pre-recorded lessons and his work remained of a “high standard”.

Mr Nesbitt said he sent a text to Ms Donohoe to ask if Noah would submit the work, to which she replied her son had been “having a tough time” that week.

In questioning, Ms Campbell said that the PSNI sent an officer to get a statement from Mr Nesbitt despite the fact he “had not set eyes” on Noah in three months, and asked if he had “any direct evidence to give at all” in terms of helping the police investigation when Noah was missing, to which Mr Nesbitt replied “no”.