Parents of tragic Eden Heaslip reveal how he still receives abuse after his death

The Cavan native died just weeks after turning 18 last September after he was bullied in school, both verbally and physically.

Following a heart-breaking interview with his family last week, Prime Time viewers heard how people still leave horrific messages on his social media accounts

Eden’s dad Ray explained: "It wasn't nice stuff. I'll give you one of the mild things. 'How does it feel that Eden now is six-foot under?’ ‘The best thing that ever happened Eden this year’ and ‘All he was good for was wasting oxygen’. "

Eden’s parents were speaking as the Government prepares to bring in mechanisms to appoint an Online Safety Commissioner.

Officials recently published the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill and the hope is the Commissioner will be appointed by the end of the year.

The sickening revelations prompted shocked viewers to take to social media with one person tweeting: “Online abuse needs to be tackled. Think before you post because it’s simply not good enough and abuse should not be acceptable in any shape or form anymore.”

A second added: "Bullying is not okay. It should be criminalised."

"What an awful awful thing that happened to #EdenHeaslip. How was this allowed to happen," another comment reads.

While another person wrote: "Devastating story about Eden Heaslip. Death from bullying is outrageous. Removing wicked & harmful online content quickly has to happen! Hope the new online safely bill turns a corner on this."

The previous hard-hitting RTE documentary revealed how four months on from his tragic death Eden’s parents, Maggie and Raymond, and siblings, Chloe and Finn, have been left devastated.

The shocking details of Eden’s short life and death left people across the country stunned and saddened, with some taking to social media to relate their own experiences at the hands of bullies.

Broadcaster Adrian Kennedy tweeted that he had “just been watching and hearing about poor Eden ending his life last September over bullying”.

“I often wonder how I survived the bullying I suffered when I was Eden’s age. Happily, I did. I survived. But it never leaves you. It never goes away. RIP Eden.”

if you have been affected by the issues raised in this article, contact the Samaritans on 116 123; Pieta House on 1800 247 247 or text HELLO to 50808, a free 24/7 text support service for people going through a mental health or emotional crisis.