STATEMENT.
Today Jackie Fox learned that the Bill she has relentlessly campaigned for to be brought into Law, which was promised to be named CoCo`s law in honor of her beautiful daughter Nicole (CoCo) Fox will now not bear her daughter's name.
The joy Jackie felt when Brendan agreed to name his Harassment, Harmful Communications, and Related Offences Bill 2017 in honor of her Daughter CoCo in 2018 brought some comfort to her.
On the 16th of October this year, Jackie stood outside the Dail and handed a petition of 33,460 signatures to Brendan Howlin with a guarantee from him that the Bill would be named after CoCo,
Jackie learned through a suicide awareness group today that Helen McEntee has in her great wisdom under the guise of "on legal advise" said the name of the bill can not be changed but will be known as CoCo`s law. This decision was made on the 1st of December yet not one TD or member of the select committee seen fit to contact Jackie or even March for Justice Ireland to inform us of this devastating news. A grief-stricken mother who found a small measure of comfort in her daughter's memory been honored by a law named after her daughter, that will save ten`s of thousands from the same faith as her daughter has been left completely devastated by this cataclysmic news.
We are rightly questioning why the addition of CoCo`s name to the bill has not been an issue up until the 1st of December, not one TD in the Dail raised an objection to the addition of CoCo`s law to the bill.
To quote Brendan Howlin on the 16th of October 2020 "I guarantee that it will happen" James Lawless on the same day and we quote he "could see no reason why we couldn't do that" in regard to adding CoCo`s law into the title of the bill.
At the time of writing of this statement, 38,941 people are behind our petition to Bring in CoCo`s law, a mere fraction of the worldwide support Jackie has to have the bill named after CoCo and to be signed into law, yet Helen McEntee and members of the select committee do not see fit to give in to the will of the people. The entire country is fully aware of the Government`s disregard for legal advice when it suits their needs, this is one of those times, the people of Ireland and the world are behind CoCo`s law, as that is what this bill is known as to the general public, not as the Harassment, Harmful Communications, and Related Offenses Bill 2020. To not include CoCo`s law in the legal title of the bill is to dishonor not only Nicole (CoCo) but the tens of thousands of people who have lost their lives through suicide caused by online bullying and harassment and all those in the future.
We refuse to sit back and allow the Government, Helen McEntee, and the select committee to dishonor CoCo and the people of Ireland.
We the March for Justice Ireland Committee demand CoCo`s law is included in the name of the bill and call on the people of Ireland and the world to stand in support of us and Jackie Fox.
END.