LAST UPDATE | 9 Aug 2019
A GARDA LIAISON Officer has been deployed to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to assist with the case of Nóra Quoirin, a teenage Irish citizen who went missing from a Malaysian resort six days ago.
Nóra, who has special needs, went missing while on a family holiday in the resort of Dusun in Seremban, a short distance from the capital Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
She is the daughter of an Irish-French couple who have been living in London for around 20 years. Her family say they believe she was abducted, but police have classified it as a missing person case.
A search team of over 250 people, backed by helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs, have been hunting through dense jungle next to the site in southwestern Malaysia but have not found any trace of the teenager.
An Garda Síochána has now deployed a Garda Liaison Officer to Kuala Lumpur to assist the Department of Foreign Affairs, who are currently providing consular assistance to the Quoirin family.
The Garda Liaison Officer will liaise as required with the Malaysian Police, UK and French authorities to assist in the search for Nóra.
In a statement today, Nóra’s family said that she “isn’t independent and does not go anywhere anyone”.
Nóra is a very special person. She is fun, funny and extremely loving. With her family, she is very affectionate – family is her whole world and she loves to play games, like Cat Bingo, with us.
She likes to tell us silly jokes and wear clever, colourful t-shirts. She is not like other teenagers. She is not independent and does not go anywhere alone.
The family said that Nóra was born with Holoprosencephaly – this means that she has a smaller brain.
Throughout her childhood, she spent a lot of time in hospital and has always needed dedicated specialist educational provision. She attends a school for children and young people with learning and communication difficulties, the family said.
They continued:
Nóra is very sensitive. Outside the family, Nóra is very shy and can be quite anxious. Every night, her special time is for cuddles and a nighttime story with her mum. And she was extremely excited about the family holiday in Malaysia.
The family said Nóra has been to Asia and many European countries before and has never wandered off or got lost.
Nóra’s aunt, Éadaoin Agnew, read out the statement on RTÉ Radio One’s Drivetime this evening, which can be heard here:
RTÉ Radio 1 / SoundCloud
Search for Nóra
Today, hundreds of Muslims held a special prayer session in Malaysia for Nóra.
Some 300 people, many wearing Muslim prayer caps, knelt in prayer during the session dedicated to the teen in the afternoon at a mosque in a nearby town.
“What we’re doing today is to help our friends in the search effort,” said Mohamad Taufek Awaludin, who led the session.
Several police officers and firefighters were among the group. Over two-thirds of Malaysia’s 32 million inhabitants are Muslim.
Police have questioned around 20 people and are examining fingerprints found on a window pane.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland confirmed it is “aware of the case and is providing consular assistance”.
- with reporting from Hayley Halpin and © AFP 2019
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