Published Friday, 10 February 2012
A vigil was held for the 20-year-old who fell into the water in the early hours of 26 January, after a night at the Odyssey complex watching Snow Patrol in concert. He and his girlfriend Karen McKeever then went to the Beach nightclub.
She saw him last early on Thursday morning, refusing to get into a taxi.
Joby's brother Martin began a short service on the bridge, saying Joby brought so much joy to the people who knew him.
"We're here tonight to pray together that we find him and that this is not our last goodbye," Martin told the crowds.
Those at the vigil lit candles and threw flowers into the river, an action being carried out simultaneously by Joby's friends and family in Canada who could not be in Belfast.
Joe Murphy, Joby's father, said he was "overwhelmed" by the turnout.
"I thought the bridge was going to collapse there was that many people," he said.
"I said a word myself at the end, just about cherishing everything you have because tomorrow you mightn't have it."
The Murphy family's local priest, Father John Forsythe, from St Mary's on the Hill in Glengormley said the vigil was a chance to draw a line under the two weeks of searching.
He paid tribute to the efforts of Joe Murphy, saying: "For a small, little man, he's been remarkably strong in holding everyone together and keeping praying. Full of dignity, full of hope.
"Tonight the people of Belfast were united," added Fr Forsythe.
"All people came here together and prayed to God for relief for this family, an end to their anxiety and worry."
The official search for Joby has been scaled back until the high tides turn later this month.
The Murphy family have not given up hope of finding Joby's body and will set out themselves on Saturday on a boat to continue to the search.