FOR Jackie Fox January 18th, 2018 brought unspeakable pain and loss. It was the day her daughter Nicole passed away at the age of 21.

Jackie never left her eldest child’s hospital bedside and held her hand as she took her last breath.

For months afterwards, she was consumed by grief and despair.

But then something shifted. Nicole, or Coco as those who knew and loved her called her, had been relentlessly bullied both physically and online.

Her cruel tormenters burned her with cigarettes, pushed her into the corner of a table, dislocating her hip, and dragged her down a flight of stairs at a nightclub.

Worse still was the psychological abuse online, which persisted to the point where Nicole felt she could take no more.

Jackie faced seeing her daughter’s bullies walking the streets, going to school, carrying on with their lives while her first-born was lying in her grave.

She went to the gardaí, but they explained that there was no legislation in place in Ireland under which to take a prosecution.

And so began Jackie’s tireless campaign to change the law. It started with a petition, a Facebook page, and one heartbroken mother wearing a t-shirt bearing her dead daughter’s image standing outside Dáil Éireann.

Jackie’s perseverance finally paid off as she blazed a one-woman trail to the steps of Leinster House – and all the way inside. She garnered meetings with politicians and won cross-party support for the landmark legislation Coco’s Law.

The Act was passed in 2023 and more than 1,860 harmful communication incidents have been recorded by An Garda Síochana under Coco’s Law since then.

More than 400 charges and summonses have been initiated for offences. The Act has provided a legal mechanism to fight online harassment and the sharing of intimate images without consent.

Jackie has since addressed the European Parliament, twice, most recently sharing her daughter’s story with MEPs in Strasbourg last month. Coco’s Law – the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020 – is being hailed as the legislative model for other countries to follow.

But prevention is better than cure, so sadly when it comes to safeguarding our children Ireland is lagging behind. Less than two weeks ago the Irish Medical Organisation warned that vulnerable young people are at serious risk of harm on social media apps. IMO vice president Prof Matthew Sadlier said the mix of algorithmically driven content and ubiquity of smartphones had created a ‘truly toxic online landscape’.

He said Snapchat and Roblox offered easy access to unconnected users, including children, noting there had been several convictions in Ireland for child abuse directly related to activity on Snapchat in particular.

He referenced a case of a sex offender in Cork who sent a sexual message on Snapchat to a schoolgirl just hours after his release from prison, and who himself described the platform as a ‘safe haven for paedophiles’.

The IMO is calling for stricter online regulation, and age restrictions for accessing some apps. A call that has been echoed by CyberSafeKids and others.

The Government here had been considering following Australia’s lead and banning social media for under 16s, but a digital strategy announced in February sidestepped the issue.

Jackie Fox now visits secondary schools across the country to tell Nicole’s story. And she notes that both the victims of bullying and the bullies themselves are getting younger. She started out telling her story to Transition Year students, but now she gives what she describes as a ‘mammy version’ to students aged 12, 13 and 14.

Jackie has fulfilled her promise. Nicole’s legacy lives on. But it is a bittersweet victory; nothing can bring her daughter back. A few years ago Jackie moved from Dublin, where she ran the risk of bumping into her daughter’s bullies, to Courtown in Wexford. There is now a bench dedicated to Coco’s memory overlooking the sea there.

In her Strasbourg address, Jackie concluded that though she may be small in stature, she has a big voice. It’s time for others to make some noise and persuade the powers that be to do what’s needed to safeguard our children online.