Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the fact that we are having this debate this morning. I thank the Minister for that.

Over the last week, we have seen a rise in the conversation about the negative impact social media and the Internet can have on our boys and our young men. This conversation was sparked by the Netflix show "Adolescence". Last week, we also saw two content creators use their platforms to share their own experiences of harassment. I take this opportunity to share Ella Deasy's experience. She moved to on-campus accommodation in University of Limerick in September 2024. Later she found out that a young man had created a TikTok in which he shared his hopes for the year ahead which included throwing eggs at Ella Deasy's house. That of course could have been taken with a pinch of salt but unfortunately it did not end there. It turned out that a WhatsApp group had been created of 200 young men who all wanted to target her house. Frighteningly, they knew not only the house number but the room in which she was living and they congregated at the back of the house outside her window shouting and chanting. She reported this to the accommodation provider but nothing was done at that point. This continued the following night with doorbells ringing in the middle of the night, eggs being thrown at the door and yoghurt being put on the door handle. This continued on over a number of nights. It escalated to attempts to kick in her door. There is no other way of putting this other than to say that this is an incredibly frightening experience. When I heard this story, I found it deeply concerning. What really stuck me was the fact that there was a WhatsApp group with over 200 young men discussing, viewing or participating in it. As Ella said, just imagine 200 boys against one girl. We need to do better for our young women and equally we need to do better for our young men. What strategy will the Minister bring into our colleges to deal with this in terms of education, and also in terms of the ways the universities can deal with these types of issues so that if women receive this type of harassment they have immediate support from their colleges?

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