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Friday 22 September 2023 Dublin: 12°C

# debunked

All time
Court hears man charged with firework offence at Dublin protest is currently on the PUP
The court heard the accused had worked in a power-washing business but is currently in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.
FactCheck: Misleading Covid-19 claims in a leaflet made by three political parties
The leaflet was produced by Renua, the Irish Freedom Party and Direct Democracy Ireland.
Debunked: No, People Before Profit has not organised a 'pro-lockdown' rally
A false flyer advertising a pro-lockdown rally has been incorrectly attributed to People Before Profit and Le Chéile.
FactFind: What are Covid-19 vaccines effective at preventing?
A social media post has drawn incorrect conclusions to suggest that Covid-19 vaccines are ineffective.
FactCheck: No, this photo of a massive crowd in Bucharest does not show a protest against Covid-19 restrictions
Social media posts have falsely described a photo from Romania in 2017 as a recent anti-restrictions protest.
FactCheck: Covid-19 claims shared on a LED display driven around a number of locations in Ireland are false
Messages flashed on an LED display beside roads are spreading misinformation about Covid-19.
Debunked: No, an FOI request did not show that RTÉ 'took orders' from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
A post on Facebook suggests that the broadcaster received money from a number of international groups.
Debunked: Yes, the virus that causes Covid-19 has been isolated and photographed
A post on Instagram claims that SARS-CoV-2 has never been isolated.
Debunked: No, there wasn't a media blackout on Simon Coveney's official visit to Turkey last month
It has been claimed that the media was told not to cover the minister’s trip last month.
Debunked: No, a Wexford doctor's death was not related to the Covid-19 vaccine
Dr Keshav Sharma died on 11 January.
FactCheck: No, the lack of hospitalisations from flu is not because cases are mistakenly being diagnosed as Covid-19
The claim goes against what medical and scientific experts have observed in Ireland and other countries around the world.
Debunked: A comparison of deaths between January and October 2020 and other years is misleading
The post incorrectly compares CSO data for ten months in 2020 with previous years.
Debunked: Several claims about Covid-19 in a video featuring Dolores Cahill are false or misleading
The video was posted online before Christmas and now has more than 1 million views.
FactCheck: No, Pfizer did not say unprotected sex should be avoided after the vaccine because of risk from 'genetic manipulation'
A false claim on social media suggests that a Pfizer document said vaccine recipients should not have unprotected sex for 28 days after receiving their second dose.
Debunked: No, this is not a photo of a man attacked by George Nkencho
An image being shared on social media is actually of an Everton football fan attacked in 2019.
FactCheck: No, George Nkencho was not a convicted criminal out on bail for attacking his girlfriend
A claim on social media says that George Nkencho had 32 convictions, but this is false.
Debunked: No, a Freedom of Information request to the HSE did not prove that Covid-19 does not exist
The claim originated in a series of posts by Anti-Corruption Ireland last week.
Debunked: No, a former Pfizer employee was not correct to say there is 'no need for vaccines'
Quotes attributed to Dr Mike Yeadon are inaccurate.
Debunked: No, this US nurse who fainted after her Covid-19 vaccine has not died
The nurse has said her fainting was not linked to the vaccine, but to a health condition she has.
Debunked: No, this photo does not show Paris 'in full out war' over Covid-19 restrictions
The photo was taken in 2018 when France won the World Cup.
FactCheck: No, a claim by an Irish doctor that PCR tests have a 97% false positive rate is not true
The video, which has attracted hundreds of shares and likes on Facebook, makes a number of claims about PCR testing.
How anti-vaccine misinformation took aim at the Toy Show - and what can be done about it
Ireland is seeing a lot of misinformation about vaccines right now – and there’s no sign of it stopping.
FactCheck: Are RNA Covid-19 vaccines actually responsible for 'genetic manipulation'?
A tweet going viral raises the spectre of some vaccines causing lasting genetic change to our cells, but this is untrue.
Debunked: No, Pfizer's head of research did not say the Covid vaccine is 'female sterilisation'
Social media posts making the claim have been shared thousands of times in recent days.
FactCheck: No, the WHO's Dr Mike Ryan didn't say that Covid-19 is 'no more dangerous' than the flu
A number of different posts on Facebook with the same text have claimed that the assertion was made at a WHO briefing.
Debunked: No, you won't need a 'vaccination passport' to receive social welfare
The Department of Social Protection has confirmed that this is incorrect.
FactCheck: Yes, the children's flu vaccine is authorised for use in Ireland
Despite what the misleading claim says, the Fluenz Tetra vaccine has been authorised since 2013.
FactCheck: No, a German city has not ruled that compulsory mask-wearing is illegal
Guidance on mask-wearing in the German city of Düsseldorf has recently been updated, but the requirement to wear a mask has not been banned as claims suggest.
Debunked: No, the HSE hasn't said its coronavirus testing method is useless
The PCR test is globally recognised as the gold standard method for detecting the coronavirus.
Debunked: No, a Fine Gael Senator is not being paid €150,000 to sit on the board of Pieta House
None of the members of the board of Pieta House are paid for their work.
Debunked: No, the Army is not going to chip children in schools so they can monitor them
The incorrect claim is being widely shared on social media.
Debunked: No, face masks 'sprayed with Teflon' are not causing flu-like symptoms
This claim has been shared widely on Facebook recently.
FactCheck: Claim made in full-page Irish Times ad about Covid-19 deaths is false
The ad calls for an alternative approach to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions.
FactCheck: Many of the claims made about Covid-19 in a leaflet sent to Dublin households are false or misleading
The leaflet was distributed in the name of Anti-Corruption Ireland, an anti-government group.
FactFind: Are Fine Gael's claims about Sinn Féin in a video published on social media accurate?
The video on Twitter and Facebook accused Sinn Féin of being “two-faced and hypocritical”. But were the claims in it correct?
Debunked: No, this photo does not show a skip filled with food waste from Dublin restaurants which were forced to close
The photo has been shared on social media in recent days – but it was actually taken in England five years ago.
Debunked: No, Smyths Toys is not closing its doors and going 'online only' in the run up to Christmas
Several claims online say the store is to stop retail sales from next week.
Debunked: No, the Covid-19 swab test cannot enter the brain and cause damage
The Covid-19 swab is not powerful enough to break through bone, a professor said.
Debunked: No, Paul Murphy isn't recruiting and training actors to attend protests
The fake advertisement was shared on social media following protests in Dublin at the weekend.
Debunked: No, countries were not exporting Covid-19 test kits in 2017
It’s been claimed that the World Bank was recording exports of Covid-19 tests up to three years ago.