Latest news with #Luke'sLaw
Irish Daily Mirror
17 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
'Let's bring in Luke's Law - it should be a crime to film a tragedy'
If you missed Elizabeth Hyde's interview on Upfront with Katie Hannon, watch it back on the RTE Player. Broadcaster Hannon is a model of composure, but she was close to tears listening to broken-hearted Elizabeth, whose son Luke drowned in the River Lee in Cork last month. Luke, 34, died when onlookers too busy filming his death failed to come to his aid. Lifebuoys next to where he entered the water were untouched, while gawkers recorded Luke in difficulty on their phones and uploaded the scenes on social media. That's enough for me to back Elizabeth's call for Luke's Law, which would make it a criminal offence to record such an accident and share it online. We need such legislation if this is what the world has become. A fireman told the family he had never seen anything like it in 44 years' service; people had to be pushed out of the way for emergency workers to reach Luke. Elizabeth cried when she said: 'I can't get away from the vision of it. My beautiful child drowning, while they were just videoing. He could be with me here today if someone had tried.' At the news, she ran out on the street in her bare feet, screaming: 'Someone help me, my son is dead in the river. I know he was calling out for his Mam before he died.' Who stands by and watches someone die a preventable death, filming it for entertainment? Are they thinking about it differently now? Has it hit them in the aftermath? Or have they forgotten Luke Hyde already? It struck deep into my heart because I know that scene. I've run in bare feet in desperation. I grew up beside Blessington Lake, a deceptively picturesque reservoir in Co Wicklow which claims lives every year. It's a man-made lake, with currents and sudden drops. My father witnessed drownings on it that haunted him. Before I was a teenager, I would too. In 1989, the summer of Sixth Class, five of us went down to the Lake and only four of us came back. My cousin and schoolmate, Alan Clarke, died in front of me that day. He wasn't far out from the shore when he said: 'I'm out of my depth' and slipped under the water. Efforts were made to save him that nearly cost another life. I remember I couldn't feel the lake's hot stones burning my soles as I ran to get help. But it was too late. The impact was monumental. The whole town was shocked, a community in grief. His family could never be the same again. Neither were those of us with him. None of us will ever forget Alan. Drowning is usually silent and swift. Too often, it's young lads, like the two friends Emmanuel Familola, 16, and Matt Sibana, 18, who drowned in Donegal last month; or Max O'Connor in the Grand Canal at Kildare last year. An average of 100 people a year drowned in Ireland over the past decade. More will drown here over this summer. It's the second biggest cause of accidental death after road accidents. It's never advisable to go into the water after someone, unless you have lifesaving skills. But you can act. Irish Water Safety advises three actions, Shout, Reach, Throw. Shout to orientate the person back towards shore; reach with a stick or similar while you lie flat, and throw a ringbuoy or anything that floats. Never reach for your phone to record it for likes and shares, a reaction devoid of humanity. I support the call for Luke's Law - make it a crime.
Extra.ie
3 days ago
- Extra.ie
Luke's Law: Mum of Cork drowning victim campaigns to ban recording of tragic accidents
The family of a young man who drowned in the River Lee earlier in the month are campaigning for the recording of tragic accidents to be made illegal. Luke Hyde, 34, died after he got into difficulty while swimming in the north channel of the River Lee at Pope's Quay. A huge search and recovery operation was carried out, leading to the recovery of Luke's body. Luke Hyde, 34, died after he got into difficulty while swimming in the north channel of the River Lee at Pope's Quay. Pic: Tragically, video footage of Luke's final moments was recorded and shared on social media, with Cork TD Ken O'Flynn calling on legislation to be introduced to prohibit the act. Luke's devastated mum Elizabeth and his childhood friend KellyAnn are leading the campaign, with KellyAnn earlier in the week telling Katie Hannon on Upfront with Katie Hannon how emergency responders had to push people out of the way in order to do their job. She said: 'A member of the fire brigade, he said he'd never seen anything like it in his 44 years serving. He said it was absolutely frightening that people had to be pushed out of the way for emergency responders to step in to do their job.' @rteone "Not one person offered their help." Kelly Ann describes the day her childhood friend Luke died from drowning. She is campaigning for 'Luke's Law' to prohibit recording the scene of an accident. #RTEUpfront ♬ original sound – RTÉ One KellyAnn explained that they are currently campaigning for legislation on Luke's Law. 'It's a law that's actually in Germany,' she explained, 'It's just basically you could face one year imprisonment or a massive fine if you're on the scene of an accident recording and using it to be sending through social media channels and not offering help or whatever.' KellyAnn added that following her friend's death she took a walk down to Pope's Quay and noticed there was a life buoy 'within ten feet' of where he entered the water. @rteone "I can't get away from the vision of it… My beautiful son drowning, while they just videoed him." Luke Hyde's death was filmed and posted online. His mother Elizabeth is calling for legislation to put a stop to this. #RTEUpfront ♬ original sound – RTÉ One 'There's four along each side of the quay and I just can't believe that one wasn't taken off and thrown in,' she said. Elizabeth added that she doesn't think she can ever 'move on' from the loss of her child in such tragic circumstances. 'My child died without anyone trying to help,' she said tearfully, 'He could be here with me today if someone tried. It could've been a different story.' The Cork woman told Katie of how she had been trying to get through to Luke to see what time he would be home and when the phone was eventually answered it was a Garda. Living nearby and hearing the helicopters overhead, when the Garda answered Elizabeth realised the person the helicopter was looking for was her own son.
Irish Examiner
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Cork councillors call for River Lee safety review after Luke Hyde's drowning and onlooker controversy
Cork's city councillors have requested a River Lee safety and access report following the tragic drowning of a young man in the city centre last week. Luke Hyde, 34, from Wolfe Tone Street on the northside of Cork city, drowned last Wednesday evening after he got into difficulty while swimming in the north channel of the River Lee at Pope's Quay. A second man who was in the water at the time managed to get out safely and raise the alarm. There was outrage when it emerged that dozens of onlookers filmed Mr Hyde's drowning, rather than helping. Mr Hyde's family contacted Sinn Féin Cllr Michelle Gould in recent days and asked her to raise the tragedy in City Hall. At the May meeting of the council on Monday, Ms Gould tried to seek a suspension of standing orders to discuss a range of issues arising out of the tragedy, including a request that: Signs be erected urgently at entry points to the River Lee warning of the dangers of swimming; The council undertake a safety risk assessment of all entry points to the River Lee within the city centre, to ensure that any necessary precautions to prevent accidents are in place; The council develop an awareness campaign to highlight the potential dangers of, and safety precautions needed for, swimming in the River Lee. But Lord Mayor Cllr Dan Boyle said he had been advised that agreeing to a suspension of standing orders and allowing a debate on the circumstances surrounding an incident that is now the subject of an investigation could compromise the ongoing investigation. Ms Gould said she was conscious that a coronial inquest in relation to last week's tragic death, and whatever recommendations might arise from that, could take several months, and she asked for safety signs to be erected in the short term. But Mr Boyle insisted again that it could be dangerous to proceed with a debate on the issue, given that investigations are underway. Fine Gael Cllr Des Cahill said it might be prudent and helpful if city officials prepared a report for them on what safety measures are in place along the quays, including information on the locations of lifebuoys, and what areas have been secured, before any debate takes place. Ms Gould agreed to wait for that report, which should be ready for the council's June meeting. The circumstances of Mr Hyde's death sparked anger and outrage last week when it emerged that instead of helping, many of the people who lined the quaysides as he struggled in the water filmed the tragic events as they unfolded, with some livestreaming the incident. There was no evidence that anyone on the quays threw him one of the four lifebuoys available on that stretch of the river. And such was the onlooker intrusion on the emergency response that gardaí had to step in and push the cordon back. Emergency services recovered Mr Hyde's body downstream a short time later. Some people even recorded the recovery of his body. His family is now backing efforts to introduce 'Luke's Law', which would make the recording or sharing online of such tragic incidents a criminal offence.
Irish Daily Mirror
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Daily Mirror
Opposition TDs leave Dáil as Michael Lowry speaks during Other Members Questions
Opposition TDs left the Dáil chamber as Michael Lowry spoke for the first time in the new 'Other Members' Questions' slot to raise concerns about people filming tragic incidents. The slot was created after the opposition objected to Mr Lowry and other TDs who negotiated the programme for government being allowed to take part in Leaders' Questions. The new slot, which is nearly identical to Leaders' Questions, was also objected to by the opposition and led to weeks of argument. Mr Lowry took part in the slot for the first time on Wednesday. It resulted in politicians from Sinn Féin, Labour and People Before Profit leaving the chamber. The Social Democrats stayed. Mr Lowry addressed the death of Luke Hyde who died after getting into difficulty while swimming across the River Lee, from Pope's Quay to Lavitt's Quay, in Cork city last Wednesday, April 30. Some onlookers began recording and live-streaming the tragedy, leading to calls for 'Luke's Law' to be introduced to ban such filming. Mr Lowry spoke of the 'heartache' of Mr Hyde's mother at 'people callously filming her son's final moments'. He said: 'Unfortunately, this mother is not the first to feel such horror. Families right across the country have also been subjected to some similar pitiful actions. 'It has become common for people to record tragic events for the sole purpose of sharing or threatening to share on social media. 'Images of road tragedies, injured victims, those suffering shock and distress, people crying for help, they've all had their anguish and fear reduced to public online spectacle. Misfortunes are reduced to grotesque entertainment. 'Emergency responders have also frequently spoken out about the heartless behaviour of onlookers who turned a tragedy into a clickbait opportunity." Mr. Lowry continued: 'It is not only incidents like this that find their way into the public domain. Violent brawls, racist attacks, abusive actions and bullying are also considered fair game for recording. Blackmail is commonly used to threaten the victims who live in fear of the content being made public or sent to families or authorities. 'The grief and torment that these threats can cause is incalculable. Many victims are blackmailed for money. Others are coerced into illegal or unsavoury actions in order to buy the silence of their tormentors.' Mr Lowry called on Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers to outline Coimisiún na Meán's brief. Minister Chambers expressed his own condolences to the family of Luke Hyde, stating it is 'deeply concerning that the first instinct [of] some of those present when Luke tragically lost his life was not to help out' but rather 'take out their phones' He added: 'It is a failure of basic human decency to take the view that social media clout is more important than the dignity and privacy of someone in extreme distress in their last moments.' Mr Chambers also said that the online media platforms have a role to play in removing content as soon as possible. If the platform fails to apply its terms and conditions, he said, Coimisiún na Meán can take action against them. When Mr Lowry's engagement with Minister Chambers was over, the Sinn Féin and Labour TDs came back into the Chamber. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
Irish Daily Mirror
06-05-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Family and friends of drowning victim want filming of tragic events outlawed
The heartbroken family and friends of a man who drowned in Cork want the filming of tragic events to be outlawed. Luke Hyde died after getting into difficulty while swimming across the River Lee, from Pope's Quay to Lavitt's Quay, in Cork city last Wednesday, April 30. His pal successfully made it across the channel. However, Luke got into difficulty as he neared the quay wall and disappeared beneath the surface of the water. Some onlookers began recording and live-streaming the tragedy. A friend of Luke's, Kelly-Anne Peyton, said his family and friends are "absolutely heartbroken' following his tragic death. She said the decision by onlookers to film Luke, 33, while drowning was 'gut-wrenching'. His heartbroken pal said there were four life buoys near where Luke lost his life but not one of them was thrown in. She explained: 'There are four life buoys on each side of the river and nobody helped but videoed.' Kelly-Anne said his family and friends want 'Luke's Law' introduced, which would make it an offence for members of the public to film a tragedy and not help. She went on to explain that when the emergency services arrived on the scene, they had to 'fight' people to move away so they could try and help. Kelly-Anne said she wonders if there could have been another outcome had somebody thrown a life buoy into the water. The Cork woman said she would be meeting with local TDs to try and get the ball rolling. She also said she spent the weekend contacting social media platforms such as Meta to remove footage of the tragedy. Kelly-Anne the social media sites did comply but explained a lot of footage remains on people's mobile phones and asked anybody who does have clips to delete them. Kelly-Anne said if the roles had been reversed and Luke had spotted somebody struggling he would have been 'head-first' into the water to try and save them. She described him as a 'gentle, gentle giant' who would 'do anything for anybody'. For the latest news and breaking news visit Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you. Follow us on Twitter @IrishMirror - the official Irish Mirror Twitter account - real news in real time. We're also on Facebook/irishmirror - your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the Irish Daily Mirror, Irish Sunday Mirror and Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
