A SCHOOL IN Sligo town that issued a warning about men approaching children has since said that there was “no safety concern”.

An Garda Síochána also said that social media posts about an “inappropriate approach” towards children in Sligo are “fake news”.

Copies of the school’s original warning have remained online, despite the school itself withdrawing the warning.

In a Facebook post, the school said that two known men had been looking for a child, but in fact they were looking to speak to the child’s parents over a case of alleged vandalism.

An email was sent from a primary school to parents, screenshots of which were later posted to the social media platforms Telegram and Facebook, all published on 1 May.

“Dear Parents,” it begins. “We have been informed of an incident yesterday where two men in a grey coloured SUV type vehicle attempted to engage with a group of children in the Maugheraboy area by showing them a phone photo of a child from the area and asking where he lived.”

Maugheraboy is an area on the southwest of Sligo town.

“The men are described as being of Asian extraction, perhaps Indian, one in his 20s and an older man perhaps in his 40s.

“Please ask your children to stay alert and remind them never to engage with strangers. Contact the Garda if you notice anything suspicious.”

One post featuring the alert, published on a Facebook page dedicated to “exposing” child sex predators in Ireland, was viewed more than 24,000 times according to stats from Meta, Facebook’s parent company.

Other similar posts had the caption “Nowhere is safe for kids anymore”, emblazoned across the screenshot.

The screenshot features an email that was signed off by the principal of a primary school in the area where the incident is said to have occurred.

However, Gardaí told The Journal: “No incident of attempted child abduction or similar activity has been reported to An Garda Síochána, nor has An Garda Síochána any information to substantiate such claims.”

The school that had sent the alert released a clarification on their Facebook page the next day.

“It has emerged that the persons at the centre of the incident and their family had been the victims of vandalism at their property including stone throwing, which put a young child at risk,” the school’s post read.

“They were attempting to locate the culprit(s) to inform their parents rather than getting them into trouble with An Garda Síochána Sligo/Leitrim . There is no safety concern around this family.

“We are disappointed that a member of our school community allowed a private school communication to be republished online.

“This shameful act generated much inappropriate, misinformed and racist commentary, which, in light of the welcoming, multicultural and anti-racism ethos of our school, goes against everything we stand for and promote.”

“We pride ourselves as an inclusive school, which welcomes everyone, and we wish to distance ourselves from all of the improper and incorrect comments, which appeared on various social media platforms.”

It is common for descriptions of supposedly suspicious characters to reference racial characteristics. However, descriptions of crimes by non-white suspects are more likely to be spread for malicious reasons.

Some racist groups can also use racial descriptions of suspects to imply non-white people are dangerous. This is especially true when the potential victims are children.

“An Garda Síochána has regularly highlighted the rise in the level of misinformation, disinformation and fake news,” a garda spokesperson told The Journal in relation to the claims in Sligo town.

“Misinformation, disinformation and fake news, as occurred in this case, is typically amplified by multiple accounts in order to spread fear and concern in peaceful communities with incorrect and dangerous misconceptions, particularly in relation to International Protection and minority groups.”

The Journal has previously debunked baseless claims of attempted child abductions by non-white people in Cork and Dundalk, and reported on claims that asylum seekers posed a threat to children, which were spread ahead of an arson attack at an International Protection centre in Coolock, Dublin.

It is also frequently claimed in anti-migrant groups that mainstream media organisations do not publish stories on migrants committing crime, often to justify their belief that migrants are often criminals, in spite of available evidence.

These commentators say the media is effectively covering it up on behalf of the state.

The opposite has been the case; Irish media organisations successfully sued last September to remove reporting restrictions over an attempted abduction of a child where the accused, who later pled guilty, was an Indian student.

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