Latest news with #LukeHyde
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 Times
06-05-2025
- Irish Times
Drowning victim's family seeks law to prosecute people posting video of tragedies online
A friend of a man who drowned in the River Lee in Cork while people filmed the tragedy rather than coming to his aid has called for the introduction of legislation to prosecute people who film and post such tragedies online. Kelly Ann Peyton was a close friend of Luke Hyde (33), who got into difficulty while swimming in the north channel of the River Lee on April 29th. She said she and Mr Hyde's family are seeking to have legislation introduced to stop people filming such unfolding tragedies. Ms Peyton told The Neil Prendeville Show on Cork's Red FM that she believed '100 per cent' that it should be an offence to film a tragedy like what happened to Mr Hyde and the legislation should be called 'Luke's Law' to save other families from going through what the Hyde family have had to endure. Mr Hyde had gone to swim across the north channel of the Lee from Pope's Quay to Lavitt's Quay with a friend who made it across, and she had since spoke to Mr Hyde's friend who told her people had lined the quays and filmed the tragedy on their phones rather than help. READ MORE 'As far as I know, he [Mr Hyde] reached out for help in the water a few times, his hand went up as if to say, 'Help'. There was loads of people around the quay wall, and they were all pointing [phones] at him... not one person took a life buoy - and there are four either side - and threw one in,' she said. 'It should be an offence, because when the guards and the ambulance personnel arrived on the scene, they had to fight, like, practically push people out of the way to get in, to try and lend help to get Luke, to get him out of the water.' Mr Hyde's mother, Lily, had spoken last week on The Neil Prendeville Show of her horror and disgust when she arrived on the scene to discover her son had drowned while scores of people had lined Pope's Quay, Lavitt's Quay and the linking Shandon Footbridge to watch and film the tragedy. 'Luke … was my baby son. I was disgusted when I heard you talking this morning about those people down there. It was like a circus, watching my son drown, instead of trying to help him,' said Ms Hyde, who had lost another son, Brian, in 2019. 'What have people in this world come to? Morons, I don't think there's even a word to describe them. It will never leave me, and the clips I saw on the news... I don't know how I'll ever, ever forget it. I never will, it will live with me forever more.' Ms Peyton said she and the Hyde family would lobby local Cork North Central TDs such as Thomas Gould and Ken O'Flynn to table legislation on the floor of the Dáil to make it an offence to film and post footage of such tragedies online. Ms Peyton said she had trawled the internet over the weekend for footage of the tragedy, and while such material appeared to have been taken down from major social platforms, she appealed to anyone who may have received film footage on their phones to delete it out of respect for the Hyde family.
Irish Examiner
04-05-2025
- Irish Examiner
Funeral for man who drowned in River Lee to take place Monday
The man who drowned last week in the River Lee after he got into difficulty in the water is to be laid to rest on Monday. Luke Hyde, who was 34, died last Wednesday after getting into difficulty in the Pope's Quay area of the River Lee. Late of Wolfe Tone Street, he is survived by his mother Lily who spoke out in the aftermath of his death as it emerged the drowning and the recovery of her son's remains had been recorded by some onlookers. Speaking about Luke, Ms Hyde said: "He was the most placid, beautiful-mannered young fella God ever put on this earth." Ms Hyde, 76, said she was "disgusted" and questioned why someone would stand by and film Luke's tragic death rather than do something to save him. "It was like a circus. Them watching my son drown instead of trying to help him." She said: "I don't think I can get through this, this is my second son [to die] in five years." Speaking to RedFM's Neil Prendeville Show, Ms Hyde said she rang her son's phone on the day of the tragedy and when a garda answered, she ran down Shandon Street to the scene of the incident. When I got down, they were putting him into the ambulance and I saw the crowds, I didn't know what was going on. She said another son was also on the scene and he tried to shield her from the scene but was adamant she wanted to hold her son one last time saying: "I need to hold my boy, I need to see him." Last Wednesday as the tragedy unfolded, gardaí had to push people back and increase the cordon around first responders as dozens of onlookers gathered to watch and film, some livestreaming. Second officer with Cork City Fire Brigade Victor Shine said rescue teams saw no signs of lifebuoys in the water when they arrived at the scene. Mr Shine said emergency services have been dealing with the rubber-necking phenomena for many years, and park their vehicles to afford some level of privacy to casualties. They can also erect privacy screens. But he said the intrusion from onlookers during this incident was another level. Mr Shine urged people who come upon such scenes to first consider how they could help, then consider the right to privacy of the individuals involved, and to respect the dignity of a deceased person. 'You have to realise that their families or friends might see these clips and images," he said. 'It's just uncontrollable at the moment. We sometimes use CCTV cameras to help identify what happened in an incident, but there are strict controls on how that footage is controlled and used. There are no controls on someone with a phone.' Luke Hyde is survived by his son Leon, mother Lily, and siblings Michael, Mark, and Lucia, and predeceased by his late father Michael and brother Brian. His requiem Mass will take place in the North Cathedral, and he will be laid to rest in Kilcully.
Sunday World
04-05-2025
- Sunday World
Funeral of drowning tragedy victim to take place in Cork
Luke Hyde (33) of Wolfe Tone Street in Cork will be laid to rest after Requiem Mass in Cork on Monday morning Luke Hyde drowned while swimming in the River Lee last Wednesday Hundreds of people are set to attend the funeral of a young man who died in a drowning tragedy as the Cork community rallies to support a family left horrified by members of the public videoing the incident rather than trying using a life buoy to try to help. Luke Hyde (33) of Wolfe Tone Street in Cork will be laid to rest after Requiem Mass in Cork on Monday morning. The young man got into difficulty while swimming near St Mary's Church by Pope's Quay at around 6.45pm last Wednesday. His body was recovered from the water by emergency services. A post mortem examination was completed at Cork University Hospital (CUH). Luke's heartbroken mother, Elizabeth 'Lily' Hyde, contacted Cork RedFM's Neil Prendeville Show in the aftermath of the tragedy to express her disgust at a decision by some onlookers to record the drowning of her son rather than do anything to help him. Ms Hyde had heard the helicopter overhead as it went up and down the river last Wednesday - and said she prayed for whoever they were looking for, not realising it was her own son. She rang her son's phone to make sure he was alright, only for a Garda to answer it. Luke Hyde drowned while swimming in the River Lee last Wednesday Today's News in 90 Seconds - May 4th Ms Hyde rushed to the scene and was shocked to see what onlookers were doing by the quay walls. 'It was like a circus, watching my son drown, instead of trying to help him. When I got down, they were putting him into the ambulance and I saw the crowds, I didn't know what was going on. "I said I need to hold my boy, I need to see him. I don't know what his last thought or words were. I was thinking, 'Did he call my name,' she asked? "What have people in the world come to? Morons. I don't even think there is a word to describe them. It will never leave me. I don't know how I'll ever forget it. I never will. It will live with me forevermore.' Ms Hyde has lost two sons in tragic circumstances. Her son Brian died in his sleep in 2019. Her youngest son Luke would have turned 34 next month. He had started a new job last weekend at a branch of Tesco in Douglas in Cork. Taoiseach Micheal Martin responded to the tragedy on Friday. He offered his sympathy to the family of the deceased whilst expressing his revulsion at the behaviour of a number of the onlookers. 'It is a very sad and regrettable feature of modern life. It was horrendous what happened, and my understanding is two fellows went in for a swim, both got into difficulty, and one was able to get out and raise the alarm." "I read what the fire officer they found it very difficult to comprehend that there were no lifebuoys thrown in to help but people were taking photographs or videos. For family members it is very traumatic and it is very, very sad.' Luke was predeceased by his brother Brian and his father Michael. He is survived by his son Leon, his mother Lily, siblings Michael, Mark and Lucia, extended family and a large circle of friends. Luke's Requiem Mass will take place at 10am tomorrow (Monday) in the North Cathedral in Cork city with burial following at St Catherine's cemetery in Kilcully.
Sunday World
02-05-2025
- Sunday World
Mum of Luke Hyde who drowned while swimming in the Lee ‘disgusted' by people filming incident
I don't know if these people know the heartache and the suffering we in his family are going through' The devastated mother of Luke Hyde who drowned while swimming in the River Lee has expressed her disgust at those people who filmed the incident. Luke had got into difficulty while swimming in the Lee near St Mary's Church in Cork city centre on Wednesday evening. The 33-year-old, from Cork's northside, entered the north channel of the river from Pope's Quay with a friend at around 6.45pm to try to swim to Kyrl's Quay. The first man 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, which was rising towards high tide at 8.20pm. Two divers, using a sonar scanner, later recovered the body of the swimmer not far from where he had gone underwater. Emergency service officials hit out after it emerged that the drowning and the recovery of the man's remains had been recorded by some onlookers. Elizabeth Hyde (76) said she was "disgusted" as she questioned why someone would stand by and film Luke's tragic death rather than do something to save him. Luke Hyde died in the tragedy Today's News in 90 Seconds - Friday May 2 Speaking to Neil Prendeville on Cork's Red FM on Friday, she said: 'It was like a circus. Them watching my son drown instead of trying to help him." 'I don't think I can get through this,' she added. 'This is my second son [to die] in five years. The first boy Brian died suddenly. He was Luke's older brother. He died in his sleep. My Luke — my baby. He was the youngest. 'I heard you talking this morning about what the people were doing there watching my son drown instead of trying to help him. I don't know if these people know the heartache and the suffering we in his family are going through. 'I don't know how I am going to get through it the second time. I am disgusted. I don't think there is even a word to describe it. It will never leave me. And my son being brought up. I will never ever forget it. 'I want people to know that I am his mother and my baby was nearly 34 years old. My whole body is trembling. I couldn't go to bed last night.' Elizabeth described Luke as the most 'pleasant young fella' who ever lived. She said he fought an alcohol problem but was doing well and had started a job in a supermarket on the Douglas Road in Cork last week. 'I was always extremely worried about him. I would be phoning him saying 'where are you Luke?' If they live to be a hundred and you are 200 they are your child. 'I was sitting downstairs watching the television last Wednesday night and I heard the helicopter going up and down the river. I thought God help us who are they looking for? I thought 'I hope they find the person.' Little did I know that it was my own son.' Ms Hyde said she rang her son's phone on the day of the tragedy and when a garda answered, she ran down Shandon Street to the scene of the incident. "When I got down, they were putting him into the ambulance and I saw the crowds, I didn't know what was going on." She said another son who was there tried to shield her from the scene but was adamant she wanted to hold her son one last time saying: "I need to hold my boy, I need to see him." Ms Hyde said: "I don't know what his last thought or words were. I was thinking, 'did he call my name?'" She said she hoped those who filmed the tragedy were listening to a "broken-hearted mother". Luke would have turned 34 next month. Funeral arrangement will be finalised in the coming days.
