Noah Donahoe: DfI "hit and miss" approach to safety, inquest told

A government department may have adopted a "hit and miss" approach to safety in an area close to where Noah Donohoe disappeared, an inquest has been told. The inquest into the schoolboy's death has been hearing evidence about potential risk and safety failings around the entrance to an underground water tunnel in North Belfast. The tunnel is managed by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI). The culvert inlet is beside Northwood Road where Noah was last seen before he disappeared in June 2020. Dr Mark Cooper, a health and safety expert, resumed his evidence on Monday when he said DfI failed to conduct an "informed public consultation" at the time of improvement works at the site in 2017, three years before Noah's disappearance and death. He said this should have happened because the views of all parties cannot be considered if they are not "put into the mix". The department has maintained that there is no public access to the culvert entrance, and it has pointed out that the site is surrounded by high security fencing, bushes, and the private gardens of local homes at Northwood Road. A senior official from the department has previously informed the inquest that residents, whose ba