App for website launched amid fears of cyber bullying

A website linked to cyberbullying and teen suicides is now one of the world’s most popular social networks after its newly released app became a huge hit.

The site, ask.fm, was relatively unknown until last year when two schoolgirls — Ciara Pugsley, 15, from Leitrim and Erin Gallagher, 13, from Donegal — took their own lives after being subjected to anonymous bullying on the site.

Despite a backlash from parents and internet safety experts in the wake of the tragedies, the website’s popularity has soared.