The mother of Grace Lynch, the teenager who died after being hit by a scrambler bike in Finglas last January, has said she will not be deterred from campaigning for changes in legislation because of online threats.
Siobhán Lynch said on Wednesday that in the past month she had received threats that she would have her window smashed, “that I’d better stop now or I’ll know all about it.“
Grace (16) died after being hit by a scrambler as she used a pedestrian crossing on Ratoath Road in Finglas, north Dublin in January. A man later appeared in court charged in connection with the incident.
Siobhán Lynch told Newstalk’s Claire Byrne show she had received threats from people warning “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.”
“All the messages, which had come in on Facebook and TikTok, had been saved and passed on to the gardaí,” she said.
The experience had been frightening for the whole family. It was all a way of trying to intimidate them, Siobhán Lynch said.
“I’ve had people tell me Grace was an absolute idiot, that it’s her 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 fight and let everybody know what happened to Grace?”
Grace Lynch’s mother Siobhán at a vigil in memory of her daughter who died after being hit by a scrambler motorcycle in Dublin. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins, Dublin.
Gardaí had advised the family to report any threats and if they noticed anyone around the house.
Grace’s father Martin, who came off all social media platforms, said he was “obviously annoyed and agitated”, with the threats.
“You can’t argue with dumb, can you? There’s no point in denying anything, because you’re not going to get anywhere.”
The family was determined to continue their campaign around scramblers, electric bikes and scooters, he said.
Their daughter had been failed by the system, which was why they were pushing for Grace’s Law and enforcement of existing legislation.
“I wouldn’t like to see another parent go through what I’ve gone through,” said Siobhán Lynch.
She said social media platforms should not allow people to upload posts unless they have a profile so they could be identified, otherwise anonymity allowed them “an easy way to target people”.
“It’s an easy way to bully people and it shouldn’t be allowed, all of these administrators should be looking into this,” she said.
People might not like what she had to say, but she was determined to continue her campaign, she said.
“The truth is Grace didn’t die for no reason, and they can come for me all they want but you know you’re disrespecting a little girl in the meantime who didn’t ask to die and I’ll never stop fighting for her.“