Belfast mayor opens book of condolence in show of solidarity with Nora Quoirin's family

Bonnie Christian14 August 2019

Belfast Lord Mayor John Finucane has been the first to sign a book of condolence at city hall in a show of solidarity with Nora Quoirin's family.

The book was opened "as a mark of respect" for Nora's family. Her mother, Meabh, is from Belfast.

Mr Finucane was the first to write a message in the book, followed by a queue of other elected representatives and well-wishers.

John Finucane writes a message in the book of condolence at Belfast City Hall.
PA

He helped lead a long campaign for answers about the death of his murdered father, solicitor Pat Finucane, and said he wished Nora's family would also get answers.

He said: "This is a story that has resonated with and struck home in Belfast.

"It is heartbreaking. I don't think this is something that would be easily dealt with in any circumstance but the fact that they are so far away from home in Malaysia."

Messages written in the book of condolence at Belfast City Hall to the family of Nora Quoirin.
PA

He added: "This is a family that was on holiday, this is a girl who was vulnerable and I think the family have been through hell in the past few days.

"Whilst she had not been found everybody hoped that she would be found safely and it really is a very tragic story."

He praised the show of solidarity from the Belfast public.

A special service was held on Tuesday at the South Belfast church which Nora was baptised in. Her grandparents are parishioners.

Nora Quoirin.
LBT/FAMILY

Mr Finucane added: "There is a very clear connection to Belfast and I think the empathy and support and the story itself has really touched something in Belfast.

"You can see that from the messages of solidarity and support from the people of Belfast."

Padraigin Drinan has campaigned on human rights issues including the murder of solicitor Rosemary Nelson.

She awaited her turn to sign the book inside the entrance of a city hall constructed in the late 1800s.

Search for Nora Quoirin in Malaysia

1/36

"I don't know them, I don't know anything about them, but to have a post-mortem for eight hours and come to no conclusion, everything gets worse and worse."

She added: "If things could get worse that was it."

David Hynds said it was important to come to mark a "horrific" tragedy.

He said: "I feel terribly sad for the family, being so far away.

"There was no way of not coming, I made a deliberate effort to come down."

He added: "It is such an awful tragedy what has happened."

He praised the donation of a reward for information about Nora's disappearance by a Belfast business.

"It really did show the way that people do react, to sympathise with somebody.

"You have to show empathy with people."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in