A VIDEO COMPLAINING about immigration into Ireland starts off by making the false claim that diagnoses of HIV are up 75 per cent in Ireland.

While recent headlines have shown a rise in new HIV diagnoses among some groups, particularly women, the figure of 75 per cent is a gross exaggeration.

“HIV diagnoses is up 75 per cent in Ireland compared to last year,” a video by anti-immigration activist Niall McConnell begins.

The video has been viewed more than 10,000 times since it was published to Facebook on 1 December.

The video ends with an appeal to sign up for a “gold membership” to Siol na hÉireann, an anti-immigrant group led by McConnell. According to the group’s website, membership costs €119 a year.

The Journal has previously debunked false claims spread by both McConnell and Síol na hÉireann.

McConnell’s claim echoes a real story about HIV rates published on the same day, though uses very different figures.

The news story reported that there was a 41 per cent increase in first-time HIV diagnoses for women in 2024 compared to 2023.

This figure comes from data provided by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), and specifically shows that 80 women were diagnosed with HIV in 2024, compared with 57 the year before, a rise of just over 40 per cent.

When men and women are included in the data, the increase drops to a little over 31 per cent.

However, McConnell’s claim isn’t about the years 2023 and 2024. What he specifically says is: “HIV diagnoses is up 75 per cent in Ireland compared to last year,” meaning that he is comparing 2025 with 2024.

While the final figures for these years have not been released, there is preliminary HPSC data on HIV.

This tallies the number of diagnoses in the first 44 weeks of the year (that is, up until the start of November).

Unlike the final figures for 2024, it has not been subdivided into first-time diagnoses and diagnosis where the patient already had HIV, or where their previous HIV-status was unknown; however, McConnell’s post does not specify whether he is talking about new diagnoses or not.

Despite these limitations, the available data should give some indication whether there has been a 75 per cent increase in HIV this year.

The figures show the opposite.

Compared to the first 44 weeks of 2024, there has been a decrease in diagnoses of just over 20 per cent.

While final and fully categorised figures for 2025 have yet to be released, there is no data that indicates that HIV diagnoses in Ireland have risen 75 per cent. The available data indicates diagnoses have fallen so far in 2025, not risen.

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