
Irish news site accidentally sends readers to X-rated adult website
A local Irish news site gave followers a shock when a brief hack on their page led to a link being posted for an X-rated website.
On Sunday, Dublin based local newspaper Skerries News shared a post on their social media wishing athletes good luck in Sunday's Skerries Triathlon, alongside a map of the route.
The post read: 'Good luck to all participating athletes in the Skerries Triathlon today. The temporary road closures are now in place. The cycle route goes along Balbriggan Road. For full details see link'.
But the link didn't direct back to Skerries News, instead it was a link to an adult video on Pornhub. Skerries News were quick to set the record straight, telling followers on Monday that a 'rogue extension briefly hijacked' their link.
They wrote on social media: 'Well, that escalated quickly… Ok, so we were hacked — and it's gone viral. But hey ho. Just another day at your favourite local newspaper.
'To the tens of thousands of you who very enthusiastically clicked our link yesterday — surprise! You were taken somewhere a little more… adult-themed than we intended.
'No, we haven't pivoted to the adult entertainment industry (although based on the click rate, maybe we should consider it?).
'A rogue extension briefly hijacked our link, and for about eight minutes, we were unintentionally promoting a site that definitely wasn't part of the brand plan. We've been getting screenshots sent to us from all over the world — even as far as #ourbalbriggan.
'Shout out to LADbible Ireland for helping us truly cement this moment in internet history. We caught it fast, fixed it faster, but the internet never forgets — and now here we are.
'Hope everyone managed to find their way around the roadblocks for the Skerries Triathlon yesterday without our 'super helpful' link. Sorry about that.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Irish Daily Mirror
34 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Former Premier League stars fail to qualify for Open but Irish hopes are alive
Two former Premier League footballers missed out but a host of Irish players and a popular Youtuber are through to the final stage of qualifying for next month's Open Championship. As its name suggests, the Open is an event that gives amateurs and lesser-known professionals the opportunity to compete alongside the world's best on one of golf's biggest stages. And almost 2,000 golfers took part in a Regional Qualifying event on Monday across 15 different courses in Great Britain and Ireland. The leading finishers at each of the 15 courses will earn places at Final Qualifying on Tuesday 1 July, and a chance to play at Royal Portrush in the major championship. It wasn't to be in the end, though, for former Premier League footballers Jimmy Bullard and Peter Odemwingie, who were among the notable names to miss out. Former Wigan star Bullard shot a respectable three-over 74 at Rochester & Cobham Park, while former West Brom striker Odemwingie posted 82 at Enville. Bullard was playing after an impressive performance in a Legends Tour event in Greece recently, where he shot five-under over 54 holes to finish level with former US Open winner Michael Campbell and ahead of Paul Lawrie, Open winner back in 1999. Peter Odemwingie is competing at Enville as he looks to build on a golfing dream that was born during his time playing at Stoke City. The Nigerian international, 43, scored 37 Premier League goals across spells at West Brom, Stoke and Cardiff. He is perhaps best known in English football for his attempt to join QPR in 2013. The forward turned up at the West London club's Loftus Road home even though no deal had been agreed. Odemwingie only started golfing in his 30s but has qualified as a teaching professional and is hoping to compete on the Champions Tour after he turns 50. There was better news, though, for popular YouTube star Peter Finch as he reached the final stage of Open qualifying in great style at Caldy Golf Club. Finch mixed an eagle, three birdies and four bogeys to shoot a one-under-par round of 71 in tough, blustery conditions. The English golfer has close to 1,000,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel and regularly chronicles his progress towards qualifying for the Open Championship. Meanwhile, at the notoriously difficult Island Golf Club in Dublin, Paul McBride put his local knowledge to great to top the qualifying. Former Walker Cup star McBride shot a three-under-par round of 69, one shot ahead of Cloverhill's Keith Shannon, who is also heading to final qualifying. The pair will be joined by fellow Irish golfers Rowan Lester (Hermitage), Finlay Eager (Royal Belfast), Ronan Mullarney (Leopardstown Driving Range), Brendan McCarroll (Foyle Golf Centre), Ruaidhri McGee, who all qualified at the Island. But that still left two remaining qualifying spots to be won as late drama unfolded at the Dublin venue. Nine players finished on two-over-par and went into a play-off for the remaining two spots on offer for final qualifying. And in the end experience counted as former European Tour player Niall Kearney and Alex Maguire, who played in the 2023 Open as an amateur, earned the final tickets. Final Qualifying will take place at Burnham & Berrow, Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports and West Lancashire ahead of the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush.


Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Star Wars of Lions v Australia awaits Josh van der Flier after long wait
It is written in the stars that Josh van der Flier's Lions debut will come against The Force. The Wicklow man's family had a video player instead of TV channels when he was a kid and his watching options largely consisted of watching the Lions or Star Wars. He didn't grow up to become a Jedi but the force is finally with the 32-year-old Leinster and Ireland star after he departed Dublin for Australia on Saturday with Andy Farrell's British and Irish Lions squad. His debut is expected to play against the Western Force on Saturday, a moment that has been a long time coming for the 73-times capped Ireland star. "Gosh, I always wanted to play (for the Lions)," he admitted. "I didn't really know that rugby was a job when I was younger, it probably wouldn't have been something I verbalized. "But I used to watch an Irish game or a game on TV and then go out to the garden and pretend to be someone who played for Ireland or the Lions. It's probably the pinnacle. It's hard to compare with playing for your country but it is a very hard thing to do, so it's pretty cool." When he wanted to watch the Lions when he was a child he popped across the road to his grandparents' house. "I just have a vague memory of it, I would have been quite young," van der Flier recalled. 'I distinctly remember, I think it was 2005, we had a family video and we taped over it by mistake. "It was Lions against New Zealand that year, we used to watch that over and over again. It was either that or Star Wars or something. So I ended up watching a lot of that 2005 Lions game.' When Leinster finished training on the day of the squad announcement, van der Flier made a bee-line for home. "I didn't even bother showering, I was straight out the door because I didn't want to be there in front of loads of lads if guys didn't get picked or if I didn't," he recalled. "So I just went home. My wife actually facetimed me so we watched it together. It was a long wait. Last time I had a vague memory of the announcement just popping up and that was it, this time it was like 30 minutes of TV before it got to it. I was sitting there sweating on the couch." With a surname starting with 'v', the wait was even longer as he watched as back row after back row was named before announcer Ieuan Evans got to his one. 'You have a good idea of how squads are made up so you obviously need specialized lineout back rows, maybe one or two 7s," said van der Flier. "And then there were like four 8s and my name hadn't been called and you think 'oh no', but I made it in the end.' The worry didn't end there, however. Van der Flier missed Leinster's URC semi-final with a hamstring issue, and was a doubt for the final but did start the victory over the Bulls. "I never hurt my hamstring before, thankfully I've been good with muscle things, but it didn't feel too bad to be honest," he said. "I'd no reference point, it ended up being a small little thing - I got a knee in the back of it I think - but the unknown was still...I was hoping it was alright. Thankfully it was. "People were asking me what the story is with tickets, wondering what my plans were and I was literally saying, 'I'm not even thinking about that until I'm finished (with Leinster)'. Winning the URC was brilliant, so the last few days I could go into camp and it was here. It was ignore it until it was there." Van der Flier was then travelling reserve for the opening defeat to Argentina at the Aviva Stadium last Friday night but wasn't required to play. The Lions arrived in Perth around midday Irish time on Sunday. They went straight into a busy schedule yesterday with a visit to Clottesloe and an aboriginal cultural experience in the form of a 'Welcome to Country' in Kings Park. But had some time to take stock of his impressive journey when the Lions trained at the UCD Bowl last week. "It was incredible, we trained here on Tuesday and it was very cool coming out into the changing rooms," said van der Flier. "It's my first time properly here since playing here for UCD." He played for the club in 2014 and '15. "It's very easy when things are going from one thing to the next to get used to where you're at," the flanker reflected. "To be involved in the Lions is incredible and you come to the UCD changing rooms for the first time since a few years ago, it's special."


Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Paul McBride takes step closer to The Open with win in regional qualifying at The Island
The former Walker Cup star made an eagle, five birdies and four bogeys in the only sub-70 round of the day at the windswept Malahide links to top the qualifiers by a shot from Cloverhill's Keith Shannon. There were ten spots up for grabs at The Island for the right to tee it up at Final Qualifying for Royal Portrush at one of four UK venues on July 1. Hermitage's Rowan Lester, Royal Belfast amateur Finlay Eager, Galwayman Ronan Mullarney and Foyle's Brendan McCarroll tied for third with one-under 71s. Rúaidhrí McGee and Finn Alex Hietala qualified with level par 72s but there was an eight-man playoff for the final two places on two-over. In the end, Laytown and Bettystown's Alex Maguire and Royal Dublin's Niall Kearney progressed at the second tie hole. At Frilford Heath, Kinsale's John Murphy birdied six of his last seven holes to shoot a one-under 71 before losing out in a five-man playoff for the last of nine spots. Local Qualifying was played at 15 venues across Great Britain and Ireland for 131 spots alongside already exempt players in Final Qualifying at Burnham & Berrow, Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports and West Lancashire next week. Irish golf will have at least five players in the field at Royal Portrush in former champions Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke and Pádraig Harrington and LIV Golf's Tom McKibbin.