Schoolchildren ‘not realising they were the bully’ are among those being moved by talks given by the heartbroken mother behind Coco’s Law.
It comes as new figures reveal a sharp rise in garda proceedings relating to the law which makes it illegal to harass someone online, with the number of summons and charges in 2026 on course to quadruple the total for last year.
The legislation, officially titled the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act, 2020, had been tirelessly campaigned for by Jackie Fox.
Ms Fox’s daughter Nicole ‘Coco’ Fox Fenlon took her own life aged 21 in 2018, after relentless bullying online.
The filmmaker behind a new documentary on Ms Fox’s journey, titled Coco’s Law and premiering at Galway Film Fleadh this week, said teenagers are ‘hooked’ when the campaigner gives talks at schools.
Gerard Walsh told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘When we were filming at the school, you could see there was the normal banter, and kids pushing and laughing and joking.
‘But as soon as Jackie spoke, they were hooked, they were locked in, and you could see their eyes welling up. You could hear a pin drop.’
The director continued: ‘Jackie told me that kids have come up to her, kind of not realising that they were the bully, and realising that day, like, “Oh f***, I’ve been doing this to somebody else, and it could lead to something else.”
‘It sounds really Hallmark-y, but they would come up and almost admit to not knowing how much of an impact their words and what they’re doing would have on the person that they’re doing it to.’
Nicole ‘Coco’ Fox Fenlon took her own life aged 21 in 2018, after relentless bullying online.
The law was implemented in Ireland in late 2021 and the European Parliament recently backed a campaign to introduce it across the EU, thanks to Ms Fox’s ongoing campaigning.
It also incorporates the sharing of intimate images without consent. Figures provided to the MoS by An Garda Síochána show a year-on-year increase in the number of proceedings commenced in relation to Coco’s Law.
The number of summons and charges had gradually risen to 152 last year and is on course to be far higher again this year, with 86 proceedings in just the first three months of the year.
Mr Walsh said it was sad in a way to see the numbers rising, as ‘it just means that there’s a lot of people going through the same kind of stuff that Nicole was going through’.
But he said it is ‘good to know that Jackie has had such an impact as to be able to get these people prosecuted’.
‘It’s great to know that it’s being used and it’s being effective, because lives could potentially be saved because of it.’
Ms Fox has forged a ‘great’ relationship with An Garda Síochána, including delivering a ‘crash course’ to members to help bring them up to speed with the law.
She is ‘constantly approached by people online or in person, either to thank her for what she’s done, or to ask her for advice’, Mr Walsh said.
‘And what she’s noticed is that the law has become more of a preventative, because once it’s getting to the point where it needs to be taken on by the police, just having the presence of the police knocking on the door is enough to get [the bullies] stopped.’
The documentarian said Ms Fox is ‘getting much better’ in her grieving process, but ‘will never be OK’.
One scene in the documentary covers a meeting between Ms Fox and then Justice Minister Helen McEntee, who had stated days earlier that the law could not be called Coco’s Law.
In the end, Coco’s Law remained a common nickname and does not appear in the statute book, but the name has been used in Government material about the law.
During the meeting with the former Justice Minister who had just announced her first pregnancy, Ms Fox brought several photos of her late daughter, including an in utero scan and a photo of Nicole in her coffin.
‘That’s last resort stuff – that’s desperation on a different level,’ Mr Walsh said.
‘She wasn’t looking at the minister, she was just looking at a future mother, and somebody that was going to be in her position. She knew that that was something that could connect with Helen.’
The documentarian said Ms Fox is ‘getting much better’ in her grieving process, but ‘will never be OK’.
Gerard Walsh, the filmmaker behind a new documentary on Ms Fox’s journey titled Coco’s Law, which will be premiering at the Galway Film Fleadh this week
‘I don’t think she’ll ever realise how much of an impact she has had on Ireland, but also could potentially have on millions and millions of people in Europe.
‘She just won’t allow herself to realise that, because she has that one mission – to keep going and make sure that everybody knows about Coco. That’s why it’s so important for her to have Coco’s name in it.’
Mr Walsh said the ‘main goal’ of his new documentary – which is an extended version of a film shown on RTÉ two years ago – is to have as many schoolchildren as possible see it.
‘It feels good to know that we [the filmmakers] were a part of something, but Jackie was incredible throughout the whole process. The resilience that she has is astounding, really.’
