Niall Boylan, the well-known radio presenter at 4fm, has shared a deeply personal experience.

Boylan was ‘bullied’ at the PPI Radio Awards last week in what he describes as a “small but very significant incident”.

When he was a child, Boylan was diagnosed with Alopecia brought on by stress, he was being bullied in school at the time.

“Who would have thought a nine year old could be that stressed.”

He endured cortisone injections in his scalp every week in an effort to treat the hair loss.

“This avalanche of name calling and constant bullying made the problem worse and within months practically all my hair was gone. I would sit and eat my lunch in the cloakroom or behind the prefabs so I couldn’t be found and get a few minutes free from the name calling.”

It continued for him in secondary school until he reached 14 and his hair grew back.

He lost his hair again in his 20s and then decided to get hair replacement.

“Up to a few years ago, I would step out of wedding pictures, I would avoid looking in mirrors in case I noticed my own hair issues. For something so simple it’s played a huge part of my life and not something I can ever explain in words.”

At the PPI Radio Awards, Boylan had his hair pulled by a Dublin DJ who laughed as he taunted Boylan behind his back with a group of others.

Boylan responded to the act of bullying by telling the DJ: “I spent years of my life dealing with people like you”.

Boylan shared this story to his Facebook page and if you wish to read it in more detail you can find it here.

He was attending the awards show to hopefully receive an award for his week-long campaign against bullying.

Boylan has since received an apology but the importance and irony of the story cannot be denied. Bullying is never acceptable whether from an adult or a child.