Irish mum’s mission to beat the online bullies

FOR the last six years, Jackie Fox has campaigned tirelessly to change Irish and EU law to make online bullying a crime.

It is a mission that has the potential to impact of the lives of 750 million Europeans, and to potentially saving hundreds of lives.

This struggle was personal for Jackie, whose daughter Nicole, better known as Coco, sadly died from suicide after three years of unrelenting online harassment.

The documentary Jackie & Coco on RTÉ1 on Monday at 9.35pm follows the extraordinary journey of this Dublin mother to find meaning following the tragic suicide of her beloved child.

When Nicole died, Jackie vowed to never let any other mother experience such horror – nor any other child be driven to such a devastating end.

The programme follows Jackie’s campaign to revolutionise Ireland’s otherwise outdated and slow-moving legislative process in order to secure her daughter’s legacy and to save the lives of many more. Jackie not only managed to change the law in Ireland but against all precedent, she also managed to have the law named after her daughter: Coco’s Law.

This is a story about loss, grief and the devastating reality of a loved one dying by suicide.

Ultimately, however, it is a story about love and the desperate effort one woman undertakes to find a place to channel hers for her daughter in the wake of her tragic death.

“My mum always said I might look like a jack russell but I bark like a rottweiler.” she tells a room of MEPs at the European Parliament as part of her campaign.

Jackie & Coco is a David and Goliath tale of this maddening, technological age – an inspiring journey of one , grieving woman to disrupt the status quo and make a change for the better.