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Irish Examiner
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Garda chief to meet media regulator over disinformation following Dublin City attack
A senior garda boss who strongly criticised online disinformation about the man who attacked gardaí in Dublin on Tuesday is to meet the media regulator to urge greater responsibility from social media companies. The assistant commissioner for the Dublin metropolitan region, Paul Cleary, said that people 'with their own agenda' spread disinformation about the incident in order to 'inflame situations'. Footage of part of the attack and the aftermath was uploaded onto social media, which commentary from various accounts stating the perpetrator was an immigrant or a foreigner. One post from Conor McGregor said: 'A member of An Garda Síochána stabbed this evening, on duty, by one of the Irish Government's new to the parish imports through its human trafficking racket.' The post was viewed 300,000 times and liked by over 3,000 accounts. On Wednesday morning, Mr Cleary said he was very concerned about social media posts and said gardaí had to be on the lookout for any follow-on violence or harassment. 'Unfortunately, we see it every day and we have some people with their own agenda trying to use incidents like this to inflame situations for their own ends,' he told RTÉ Radio's Morning Ireland. He urged people to get their information from credible sources. Very inaccurate misinformation and disinformation went out online after this incident very quickly 'So it is concerning, and we would ask people to make sure that the source of their information is credible.' Irish citizen The Irish Examiner understands that Mr Cleary has sought, and secured, a meeting with Comisiún na Meán, the media regulator, in relation to the incident and to push for social media companies to do more on disinformation and the dangers than can bring. It emerged on Tuesday night that the suspect was born in Ireland and is an Irish citizen. He comes from a Pakistani background, with an address in Portlaoise, but is also thought to have an address in Dublin. The 23-year-old is not thought to have come to the attention of gardaí before this incident. The injured garda, a young probationary, was brought to hospital, but he was due to be discharged. Sources said the injuries could have been worse and that his anti-stab vest might have saved him. The officers, based at Bridewell Garda Station, subdued the man with pepper spray and batons. Due to the factors in the case, the Garda National Crime and Security Intelligence Service has been brought in to support investigators in establishing a motive for the attack. It is analysing evidence from digital devices and social media posts and information from family, friends, religious contacts, and associates. Garda Representative Association vice president Niall Hodgins, who is also a representative for the Dublin North Central garda region, said: 'I wish to extend our heartfelt wishes to our injured friend and colleague, and wish him a speedy recovery. "This young probationary member was subject to a quite terrifying and unprovoked attack, and only for his bravery and that of his colleagues this incident could have resulted in far worse and unthinkable consequences."
The Journal
13 hours ago
- The Journal
Debunked: How misinformation spread within minutes of a garda being stabbed on Capel Street
FOLLOWING A KNIFE attack on a garda patrolling inner city Dublin yesterday, false claims that the suspect was a migrant quickly spread on the internet. The garda was attacked yesterday evening during a routine, high-visibility patrol on Capel Street. He was wounded on his upper arm, and his stab vest sustained some impact damage, before the suspect was subdued and detained. The injured garda has since been discharged from hospital after being treated for his injuries. However, false rumours about the suspect soon spread online. 'We have some people with their own agenda try and inflame situations like this for their own ends,' Paul Cleary, Assistant Commissioner for the Dublin Metropolitan Region, said on Morning Ireland today. Many posts with inaccurate claims about the incident, that have accumulated hundreds of thousands of views, can still be seen on social media. One post to Facebook calling the suspect a 'non-national' has accumulated more than 92,600 views since being posted just before 8pm yesterday. Another post that appeared half an hour later, which says that the stabbing was carried out by a 'migrant who went Tonto [crazy]', has been seen 22,800 times, according to statistics from Meta, Facebook's parent company. Advertisement Multiple other posts on Facebook blamed the stabbing on a 'foreigner' without providing any evidence. Posts on the social media platform X alleging that the suspect was a non-Irish person have been viewed more than 100,000 times, according to metrics on that site. One of the earliest posts blaming the stabbing simply read: 'Garda stabbed by foreigner on Capel street 10 minutes ago' responding at 6.55pm to a well-known far-right activist who had been complaining about Ireland being a '3rd world country' because of immigration. Similar narratives quickly spread on X, including claims that Ireland was being overridden by foreign criminals. 'This street has gone to the dogs,' reads a 7.02pm post about the Capel Street stabbing that has been viewed more than 13,100 times. 'Every single day we have foreign nationals, drinking, shitting and pissing on the street in Broad daylight.' Similar arguments that exaggerate how dangerous Dublin is are common in anti-immigrant groups, which often portray non-Irish people are inherently criminal. However, claims that the suspect was a migrant or a non-national contradicts all mainstream reporting on the case, as well as statements made by the Gardaí. The suspect is an Irish citizen who was born in the country, according to numerous outlets, including RTÉ . The suspect is expected to be charged this evening. Baseless accusations that foreigners are responsible regularly appear online almost as soon as crimes occur. Some of these accusations have been associated with real-life violence, including the case of an Indian man who was brutally attacked by a mob in Tallaght last week after being falsely accused of inappropriate behaviour around children. Want to be your own fact-checker? Visit our brand-new FactCheck Knowledge Bank for guides and toolkits The Journal's FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network's Code of Principles. You can read it here . For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader's Guide here . You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here . Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... It is vital that we surface facts from noise. Articles like this one brings you clarity, transparency and balance so you can make well-informed decisions. We set up FactCheck in 2016 to proactively expose false or misleading information, but to continue to deliver on this mission we need your support. Over 5,000 readers like you support us. If you can, please consider setting up a monthly payment or making a once-off donation to keep news free to everyone. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Post
16 hours ago
- Irish Post
Criticism over spread of misinformation following stabbing of garda in Dublin
A SENIOR Garda figure has criticised the spread of misinformation following the stabbing of a probationer garda in Dublin city centre on Tuesday. The unprovoked attack happened in the Capel Street area at around 6pm while the garda was on a routine high-visibility patrol. He was later discharged from hospital while a man in his 20s was arrested at the scene and remains in custody. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme today, Paul Cleary, Assistant Garda Commissioner for the Dublin Metropolitan Region, said the quick spread of misinformation in the aftermath of the incident was 'concerning'. "Unfortunately, we see it every day," he said. "We have some people with their own agenda trying to use incidents like this to inflame situations for their own ends. "We would always say to people to make sure that they get their information from credible media sources. "There was very inaccurate misinformation and disinformation went out online after this incident very quickly, so it is concerning." In an earlier statement, Mr Cleary said the incident highlighted the risks faced by members of An Garda Síochána. "This evening's unprovoked assault is indicative of what gardaí can face when they go out on duty to keep people safe," he said. "There is not always video footage or content shared online, but we experience it in our day-to-day duties and it's a difficult aspect of the job. "Assaults of this nature will never be acceptable or tolerated. "Our colleague has our full, steadfast support and the range of welfare services will be extended to him when he feels up to it." See More: An Garda Síochána, Capel Street, Dublin
RTÉ News
a day ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
Call for pensions to be able to tap into private markets
Changing pensions rules to allow investments in private markets would benefit consumers and the country, according to the CEO of one of Ireland's leading investment firms. With the pension auto-enrolment scheme set to come into place at the start of next year, the Irish pension sector is set for its most significant change in decades. However Alan Merriman, co-founder and CEO of Elkstone, wants to see a broader reform of pensions rules. "There is an opportunity for us to be much more progressive," he said, speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland. "One of the challenges we have in Ireland is our domestic economy - investing in our domestic economy, infrastructure. We're all conscious of the housing market, and pensions is a source of funding." Allowing pensions funds to tap into private investment opportunities would follow similar moves in the US and UK. US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order soon which would allow private assets to be included in 401Ks - meanwhile the British Chancellor in May announced plans to get pensions funds to invest 10% of their assets into private funds by 2030. However there may be some reluctance to do so, given the very different nature of investing in private firms and projects as opposed to publicly-listed assets like shares and bonds. Private investments can be riskier - especially when it comes to the likes of early stage companies - while the money is also likely to be out of reach for much longer. However Mr Merriman says that not opening pensions pots to other types of investment is a risk of its own. "Globally at the moment there's a much greater concentration in public equities, so it's actually more risky not to be diversifying, not to be allocating some of your money to private markets," he said. "Historically institutions have done that, it's only in recent times that retail investors are getting the opportunity to put money into private markets." He also said that pensions money was an ideal fit for the kind of longer-term thinking that is often required in private assets. "Pension money is long-term investing... private markets is long-term investing. You're getting a higher return because it's an illiquid market, it's a premium for that investing," he said. Part of the UK changes will also oblige pensions funds to allocated at least 5% of their investments towards British assets - which is seen as a way of supporting the economy and new businesses. Mr Merriman said he would like to see this rule mimiced in Ireland - and potentially expanded upon. "Here in Ireland we're disadvantaged, we don't have the deep pension industry that other countries have, we don't have the big foundations, we don't have teacher pensions like they have in Canada, he said. "We need to go further, we need to self-help, and one of the ways we can self-help is to encourage our own retail investors companies to invest in Ireland Inc. "Government money - tax-payer money - is going into support this [auto-enrolment] so the Government mandating and requiring that a certain percentage gets allocated to the Irish economy makes a tonne of sense."
RTÉ News
a day ago
- General
- RTÉ News
'Not a shred of evidence' Hamas withholding aid in Gaza- UNICEF
There is "not a shred of evidence" that aid in Gaza is being withheld by Hamas, according to Executive Director at UNICEF Ireland Peter Power. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said that aid organisations "were not in the business of giving humanitarian assistance to terrorists". "I think that trope has been widely debunked at this stage; it's simply not true. Not a shred of evidence has been produced to back that up," he said. Mr Power said UN agencies and other trusted humanitarian organisations have been doing this for around 80 years now and are guided by the "highest principles of humanitarian delivery." "They're not in the business of giving food or other humanitarian assistance to terrorists, and the all the briefings I've received from our own people it tells me, definitively, that that has not happened and that sort of accusation should not be made." He added that 5,000 children in Gaza were severely malnourished and at risk of dying. "In Gaza City, where I've visited, 16.3% of the children are severely acutely malnourished. When a child is severely acutely malnourished, they're at real risk of dying," he said. "We have diagnosed 5,000 children in that category who need urgent medical assistance, but there are hundreds of thousands or more, of course, who are malnourished." Every day, 200 children present at their malnutrition centres with acute malnutrition, he said. Mr Power described the aid airdrops into Gaza as "tokenistic", as it was far short of what was required. "Obviously, any aid whatsoever is welcome. But I should say that airdrops are really tokenistic. "Each parachute can only drop one or two pallets, and a number of pallets would fill a truck. "We need 500 trucks a day, that's what the United Nations system was bringing in during the ceasefire." Man-made starvation crisis Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya yesterday, hoping to secure a bag of flour or some aid, amid worsening humanitarian conditions. A global hunger monitor said yesterday that a famine scenario was unfolding in Gaza, with malnutrition soaring, children under five dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access severely restricted. The alert by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) raised the prospect that the man-made starvation crisis in Gaza could be formally classified as a famine, in the hope that this might raise the pressure on Israel to let in far more food. With the international furore over Gaza's ordeal growing, Israel announced steps over the weekend to ease aid access. But the UN World Food Programme said yesterday it was not getting the permissions it needed to deliver enough aid since Israel began humanitarian pauses in warfare on Sunday. Gaza health authorities have been reporting more and more people dying from hunger-related causes. The total stands at 147, among them 88 children, most of whom died in the last few weeks. Images of emaciated Palestinian children have shocked the world, with Israel's strongest ally, US President Donald Trump, declaring that many people were starving. He promised to set up new "food centres". Israel has denied pursuing a policy of starvation. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said yesterday that the situation in Gaza was "tough", but there were lies about starvation there. The war began on 7 October 2023 when Hamas militants stormed across the border into Israeli communities. Israel says the militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people into captivity in Gaza.
