On Monday evening, a day after her daughter's death, Grace Lynch's mother Siobhán attended a vigil in her name in Finglas, Dublin.
Grace died after being hit by a scrambler bike on Ratoath Road on Sunday afternoon.
Speaking to the crowd of more than 1,000 mourners, who remembered the popular 16-year-old by finishing the walk she had started between Valley Park estate and Plunkett Green, her mother explained what she wanted to happen from the trauma of the tragedy.
"I just want to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for turning out, for supporting my child. I will fight and I will fight to get these scramblers and scooters and everything off these streets.
"My poor baby was mangled in that hospital, in that bed, and to watch her take her last breath is the worst pain imaginable.
"It's not something that any parent should have to deal with."
Siobhán's call for action in response to such unbearable pain has been heard before.
In June 2018, a scrambler bike was driven over a hill in Darndale Park in Dublin, before landing on Ilabek Avetian as he sunbathed.
Mr Avetian, who was 39 at the time, had been relaxing with his wife Anzhela. He lost his left eye, suffered multiple facial fractures, and what doctors described as a "traumatic brain injury".
Speaking at the time, Anzhela said: "No one is answering for this. How can this happen?"
The incidents, almost eight years apart, underline the real-life consequences of gaps in Ireland's existing road safety and scrambler bike laws, gaps the Government has promised to address as a matter of urgency.
Why was action not taken sooner give the power to do so was already outlined in law?
What steps must follow to ensure that no other family faces the trauma of what the Lynchs and Avetians have been needlessly forced to endure?
'Everything that has to be done will be done'
As he arrived at Government Buildings on Tuesday morning, Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin set the tone for responding to the questions by insisting the coalition will make good on its promise to address the scrambler bikes problem.
Ahead of the weekly Cabinet meeting, Mr Martin offered his "deepest sympathies" to Grace's family and loved ones, saying he would speak with ministers "to make sure that anything and everything that has to be done will be done to remove these scramblers from our public roads".
He later told the Dáil that legislation from 2023 allowed for the banning of scramblers and quad bikes from the roads - if sought through a regulation from the Minister for Transport - and "that is going to happen".
A similar stance was taken by Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, who described what happened as an "extraordinary tragedy" before saying "it will be the Government's focus now on tightening up the laws".
Over the next 24 hours those same commitments were repeated by Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien and Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan, both of whom attended meetings this week with Attorney General Rossa Fanning to find a legislative way to immediately address the situation.
Opposition parties expressed sympathies too, but focused on what they warned had been the failure by the Government to deal with scramblers.
Describing what happened as "every parent's worst nightmare, every family's worst nightmare, every young person's worst nightmare", Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald told the Taoiseach - during Tuesday's Leaders' Questions in the Dáil - that "Grace Lynch has been failed catastrophically", asking why so little had been done to take action.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said that "sympathy is no longer enough" and "families are struggling to comprehend how children can lose their lives in entirely preventable circumstances".
"The Government has failed to act with the urgency this issue demands," Ms Bacik said, a view repeated by Rory Hearne, Social Democrats' TD for Grace's constituency of Dublin North-West, who said "this must be a turning point".
What is the current law?
The focus of the opposition's ire has been specifically on the fact that while new laws and ministerial regulation options to further tighten them have been in place since July 2023, little action appears to have been taken until now.
So, what has been legally possible before now?
In 2023, the Road Traffic Act 1994 was changed to tighten rules around liability and dangerous driving in public places and roads.
Specifically, the updated law made it an offence to drive dangerously in a public space - not just on a public road - a distinction targeted at scrambler and quad bikes, and for all scramblers on public roads to have to carry a tax certificate, insurance, and be driven by someone over the age of 16.
In some cases these laws, in place for two and a half years, have been acted on, with garda figures - provided to RTÉ News - confirming that 167 scramblers were seized last year and 20 between 1 and 27 January this year.
However, it is unclear what happens after that point.
In response to a query on whether An Garda Síochána is required to return scrambler bikes to their owners after a period of time, or if a fine is paid, a spokesperson for the force said: "Each case is individual and the disposition of the particular vehicle is dependent on the individual circumstances of the case.
"Where legislation requires/provides that a scrambler be returned to the owner, that will be done subject to any costs being paid."
While acknowledging the official scrambler confiscation figures, residents and local representatives in affected areas recognise there are times when it is impractical for gardaí to safely intervene, or to stop scrambler bikes to check for the required documentation.
Indeed, one Government politician says the situation is so bad in an area of his constituency that a well-known park has been damaged 42 times in the past year by scrambler bike activity, with little being done to address it.
The 2023 amendment to the 1994 law also provided for the Minister for Transport to issue regulations to further tighten rules on scrambler activity, rules that are now set to be used.
However, due to what officials have previously described as difficulties in agreeing a legal definition for what a scrambler is and, for example, how legally it differs from a light motorbike, these regulations have not been acted on.
What is going to happen next?
These dilemmas have been pushed to one side by the clear public and political desire for swift measures to be taken to tackle scrambler use in Ireland, a desire set to take centre stage over the coming days.
It is understood that, after the meetings with the Attorney General in recent days, Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien and Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan are likely to bring a memo to Wednesday's Cabinet meeting seeking an immediate blanket ban on scramblers on public roads and in public spaces.
The recommendation will be based on regulations being drafted for the Attorney General and will replace the position that scramblers can be used in public areas once they have a tax certificate, insurance and are driven by someone aged over 16.
The new regulations will also make it clear that scramblers and quad bikes can continue to be used for legitimate farm work, provided they are only used on the physical land itself.
Outside of this legal use, scramblers will in effect be banned on public roads and in public spaces.
One decision yet to be worked out is the suggestion by Fianna Fáil TD Catherine Ardagh that a 30-day amnesty could be offered to owners to give up their vehicles.
The proposal is intended to take account of how many owners have spent significant sums of money on the vehicles, abide by existing rules, and are safety conscious - including one civil servant who regularly drives a scrambler to the Leinster House campus, but whose vehicle was not seen this week.
However, given the public scrutiny over safety concerns, Government sources have stressed that the first priority will be to clamp down on dangerous use before examining wider implications.
What about electric scooters?
While electric scooters were not involved in last weekend's death, they have been mentioned in recent days during discussions on what legal measures are needed, in part because they are classified in a similar way to scramblers under road safety laws.
It is understood that ministers will also discuss a potential clampdown on e-scooters in the coming weeks.
Among the options being considered, are a "register of ownership" for e-scooters, requiring an adult buying one to agree to their name being placed on a database at the time of purchase.
If the e-scooter is subsequently found to be in the possession of someone under the age of 16, or is involved in a crash or other criminal incident, the adult could be as liable as the individual involved.
The move, while not definitively agreed by the Government yet, is seen by its supporters within the coalition as a potentially strong deterrent to their use.
Regardless of the political fallout over why it has taken so long for such measures to be introduced, the Government and opposition are united in their view that what happened to Grace Lynch cannot be repeated.
