The family of the late Donegal woman Danielle McLaughlin is asking everyone to spread a little kindness on what would have been her 30th birthday.

Danielle was 28 years old when she was murdered while backpacking in Goa, India in March 2017. Her family continues to fight for justice.

The popular Buncrana native would have celebrated her 30th birthday this week, so in tribute to her kind personality, Danielle’s mother Andrea and her sisters decided to turn a heartbreaking day into something positive.

The late Danielle McLaughlin

They launched a ‘Pay it Forward’ campaign inviting people to do one random act of kindness for a stranger or loved one.

Danielle’s mother Andrea Brannigan shared suggestions online, saying: “All we want is for this week to even do one random act of kindness to a stranger/loved one even something small as reminding a loved one that you love them.”

The family’s caring initiative was sparked by the devastating reality that Danielle would not be there to mark her milestone birthday.

Andrea wrote: “Even though Danielle dreaded this day, the day she would turn officially old in her eyes – 30. It used to scare her to even think about leaving her twenties, we would love if she was here to actually be allowed to age, have children, get married, tease her about aging etc but we can’t so instead we decided it didn’t have to be a negative thing and that we couldn’t make something positive come out of her thirtieth birthday.

“Just like she believed something good will always come out of something bad so here we are. Missing someone always and wishing they were here.”

Andrea asked everyone to do this one simple favour and pay it forward, reminding people to tell others why they are doing the random act – to let the ‘bright light’ of Danielle’s memory live on.


Danielle’s family are continuously fundraising and campaigning to fund the murder trial of her accused killer in South Goa. You can donate to the Truth for Danielle Mc Laughlin fund by visiting www.truthfordanielle.com and clicking ‘Donate’.