A teenager found dead in a Malaysian jungle after going missing on a family holiday was a gentle and innocent child who gifted others with immeasurable love, her funeral service has heard.
Family and friends of Nora Quoirin gathered in Belfast on Tuesday to say farewell in the church where she was baptised as a baby, St Brigid’s.
The body of the 15-year-old from London was cremated earlier on Tuesday morning.
Quoirin was found dead after a 10-day search around the Malaysian jungle resort of Dusun last month.
The teenager – who was born with the brain defect holoprosencephaly and was described by her family as “vulnerable” – disappeared on August 4.
Quoirin lived in London and was the daughter of French-Irish parents Sebastien and Meabh Quoirin.
The funeral service was led by parish priest Father Edward O’Donnell, who was joined by Father Pat Kelly, Quoirin’s great uncle.
Addressing a packed church, O’Donnell reflected on the girl’s baptism as he told mourners of the joy she had brought to her family in her short life.
He described her as “gentle and innocent”.
“Nora was very special, she brought so much joy to Meabh and Sebastien, to her sister, Innes, and to Maurice her brother, and to those of the wider family circle,” he said.
“She, as we all know, depended greatly on others but, Nora in turn gifted others with immeasurable love and joy; before such an ability we can only feel gratitude.”
When the teenager disappeared from her hotel room, her parents raised fears she had been abducted, insisting she would not have wandered off by herself.
However, police in Malaysia said they have so far found no evidence of abduction or kidnapping.
A post-mortem examination revealed Quoirin died from internal bleeding, probably caused by hunger and stress.