Brendan O'Connor on the disappearance of Nora Quoirin: 'A special kind of love - and a special kind of loss'

The story of Nora Quoirin has touched the nation and is made all the sadder by the fact of her difference

PORTRAIT OF INNOCENCE: Missing teenager Nora Quoirin. Photo: PA

Brendan O'Connor

Who'd be a parent? Take last week. Fifteen-year-old Mikey Leddy from Navan died after he fell from a wall in Puerto Del Carmen in Lanzarote. The 15-year-old was on holiday with his mum and dad, Aisling and Damien. Family holidays are magical times, when families reset and bond and get to know each other again. And then suddenly, in a split second everything changes forever and lives are ruined.