A VIDEO SHOWING a row of buses has been falsely claimed to show “5 bus loads of migrants in Santry/Ballymun”.
However, the video was taken by Santry Park , where a schools athletics competition was being held. An organiser of the event told The Journal that he was “100% sure” it showed buses dropping off athletes to the venue.
The video was posted yesterday evening by the Twitter account of The Liberal, a website that has previously been fact-checked by The Journal.
“Footage emerges of 5 bus loads of migrants in Santry/Ballymun area”, The Liberal’s tweet read. “Social media users in Dublin who spotted the migrant convoy say all buses were packed with men only.”
However, a hotel facade, a distinctive road and path layout, and the tree line in the video can all be seen on Google Street View, showing that this is where the video was taken at Northwood Avenue, next to Santry Demesne Regional Park, where approximately 1,000 students were taking part in the 123.ie Leinster Schools Cross Country Championships 2023 on Wednesday.
Anthony White, the Director of Irish Schools at Athletics Ireland – the body which oversees schools’ events in Ireland – told The Journal that he had seen the video and was “100 percent sure” it showed busses dropping their athletes off. He said that there was an entryway into the park at that road, which is confirmed in aerial views of the area.
White told The Journal that competitors from the under 14s, 15s, 17s and 19s took part, and included a link to the race results.
A representative with JF Travel, which operate one of the busses seen in the video, confirmed that they had dropped child athletes at the park. The representative also said he had seen the video, which he confirmed was taken at that event, and said they hadn’t transported with asylum seekers there.
Verdict
False. A video showing child athletes arriving for a competition in Santry has falsely been described as showing a migrant convoy.
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.
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