Chapter 1: What tragic event led to the campaign for Grace's Law?
I'm joined now by Siobhan and Martin Lynch, whose daughter Grace died earlier this year after being hit by a scrambler bike while crossing the road in Finglas. And Siobhan and Martin have since successfully campaigned for Grace's Law, which bans scramblers from all public places. And you're both with me today because of online threats you've been receiving. What's been happening?
In the last, well, I'd say well over a month now, I have received threats of they will put me down. They will put me where my daughter is. They have slandered Grace. They have said they don't care if Grace got a smack of a scrambler. They don't care about the law. I've had other people tell me I will have my window smashed. I'd better stop now or I'll know all about it.
The list just goes on and on. We did save all those messages and we did go to the guard with them. We were told some of them can be taken serious, some not.
And where are you getting the messages?
A couple of them have been on Finglas Talks. Some of them have been, which I've knocked off now, they were They're not on my friends list, but they were coming through like spam messages. I was getting them on TikTok, all of which I'd kind of come off of those platforms. I just used my own and then up until a few weeks, I was still getting them kind of through my own messenger.
So I'd knocked off the spam for that as well. So that just was kind of stopped now.
Facebook and TikTok mostly, was it?
Facebook and TikTok mostly, yeah.
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Chapter 2: What online threats have Siobhan and Martin Lynch been receiving?
And you've reported it all to the Gardaí, so they're investigating the ones that they feel that they can pursue, is that right?
That's right, yeah.
And this must be really frightening for you, first of all, but for the whole family.
It's ridiculous to think that, you know, even now, it is frightening, but at the same time, it's all a way of trying to intimidate you know, I've had people tell me Grace was an absolute idiot. Did she not hear a scrambler at their own fault that she got killed? Why did she not just stay back? Why did she cross the road? How dare I stand up for my daughter? How dare I protect her name?
How dare I advise and let everybody know what happened to Grace? As a mother, yeah, it is because I also have another child here living in this house and Martin is here and You know, we were told by the Gardaí that there is protection around us. You know, anything like that, like we used to report straight away.
You know, if we ever noticed anyone around in the house or anything like that, that we would have that protection. But it shouldn't come to where my daughter had to die for me to get that test.
And Martin, how do you feel about all of this?
Well, I'm obviously annoyed and agitated, but I'll help you put this, you can't argue with dumb, can you? There's no point in arguing with these people because you're not going to get anywhere. They've always had a bad upbringing and there's no morals because of the grown-ups. I don't know what you're getting out of it.
I know you're not online so you weren't getting these threats obviously they were all going to No I'm on I'm not on social media. But they're all going to Siobhan did it make you want to encourage Siobhan to step back a bit from the campaign or do you refuse to be cowed like that?
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Chapter 3: How have the Lynch family responded to the threats?
And I just, as Siobhan said it there about bully boy tactics, I think that when they draw Siobhan maybe into reacting a certain way and then they'll point the finger at Siobhan and say this, that and the other about how Grace was brought up and what her character was and they'll throw in a twist there which is completely wrong.
Mm-hmm.
That's how worried she is. That's what the angle is. That's my personal opinion.
And Siobhan, it doesn't sound as though you're going to stop campaigning when it comes to scrambler bikes. And I know that you want new rules brought in around electric bikes and scooters as well. This is not scaring you off, is it?
Absolutely not. Absolutely not. As I said, nothing can hurt me as much as it is my child.
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Chapter 4: What platforms are the threats coming from?
And to know that she died the way she died, she was failed by a system.
You know, Grace's Law is there, but it means absolutely nothing unless there's enforcement in this law, which is why I'm pushing for those enforcements, which is why I'm pushing for the Garda Commissioners to speak to us, which is why I'm pushing to go back to speak to Dara O'Brien and Sean Canney in regards to, which we were promised that that would happen down the line.
We want stricter rules around e-scooters and e-bikes. You know, I'd like to see that Grace's Law at some stage will become Grace's Laws. that there's more measures put into that law and that it's a very strict law, you know, I wouldn't like to see another parent go through what I've gone through.
I've talked to so many grieving parents over the last couple of weeks and, you know, they kind of get the same treatment that when their child dies in a certain way, if they try to speak up, you know, they're silenced, they're told, you know, the same things I got, threats or...
You know, and a lot of times when that happens, then they do back down because they're fearful, they're afraid and they kind of say, well, you know, God, I can't continue what this happened with me. I'm like, just bring it on. Bring it on because nothing will stop me from carrying out what I set out to carry out, which is to get justice for my little girl.
And Martin said there that you're off social media now and you were saying there yourself that you haven't had these messages for a while because you're not they're not a bit they can't send them to you now is that where you're at?
Well I've been on Facebook it's just that I've made like I did I was putting like Grace's story up on TikTok and other places which I found the commercial they're getting out of hand now and so
I did say to people that were following me, because I was getting a lot of followers on TikTok, a lot of followers, that I was going to do this on my own page, under my own name, and that I would be monitoring any messages that came in and out, and anything that came through my private message would be reported.
But I took off spam messages, so anybody now that would be, say, on a friend of my Facebook account, If the message comes true, like, I mean, one of them came through the other day from a woman who said, you know, like, you need to stop this now before it gets worse for you. This particular woman had lost a child herself and, you know, she was kind of telling me to shut my mouth, which I didn't.
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Chapter 5: How is the Gardaí involved in addressing the threats?
And I'll never stop fighting for her. I will never, ever stop fighting for her.
All right, Siobhan and Martin, thank you both for joining us today.
That's Siobhan and Martin Lynch. Thank you.