Gardai have recently revealed they are determined to tackle online bullying with a new dedicated unit.

As part of this they have released a new guideline advising parents of measures they can take to prevent this occurring as well as the devastating impact this can have on young people.  The guide also shows how to limit the impact of cyber bullying for children and adults who have been targeted by online trolls.

Speaking about the issue, Detective Chief Superintendent Declan Daly from the Garda National Protective Services Bureau said: “Cyber bullying can have a significant impact on people’s lives. The Garda Online Child Exploitation Unit is committed to tackling it in an impactful way.”

Detective Daly added: “If you do decide to give your child permission to use social media sites, the best online safety strategy is to talk with your child and engage with their use of the Internet.”

At present there is new legislation currently going through the Dail and Seanad that will strengthen the Gardai’s powers to target online trolls.

Also speaking on the issue was Detective Sgt Mary McCormack, of the Online Child Exploitation Unit who gave advise on how to deal with any potential online threat.

She said: “Cyber bullying is where someone uses technology to embarrass, threaten, harass, or target someone online. You can be any age and be cyber bullied.

“So If you have been the target of cyber bullying here is some advice, keep the messages, take screen shots of the messages, don’t delete them, keep the evidence we may be able to use these when looking at your allegations.