Latest Fact Checks
Articles
|
Environment
Are almost one in eight of all species in NI at risk, amidst an ongoing decline in local woodland?
2 May 2024
CLAIM: 12% of all animal, plant and fungus species in Northern Ireland are at risk of extinction, while the area of certified woodland has declined despite increases in other parts of the UK.
Rating
ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION/INACCURATE
On 9 April in a debate in the Assembly, Alliance Party MLA John Blair claimed: “…12% of our species are being threatened with extinction andArticles
|
Economy
|
Health
Are UK child poverty rates over seven times higher than those in Scandinavia?
23 April 2024
CLAIM: Child poverty rates in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland are between 2.4% and 3.6% – while in the UK they are 28.3%.
Rating
INACCURATE
On 26 March in a post on social media, BBC NI journalist Mandy McAuley made a claim about recent child poverty figures in the UKArticles
|
Economy
|
Health
Are unpaid carers worth hundreds of millions of pounds per year to Northern Ireland?
19 April 2024
CLAIM: Unpaid carers provide the equivalent of hundreds of millions of pounds of work every year, while the Department of Communities spends only 2% of its budget on Carer’s Allowance.
Rating
ACCURATE
On 28 February in a post on social media, Carers NI public affairs manager Craig Harrison claimed: “2%… That’s the amount of DfC’s budget spentArticles
|
Law
Does NI’s criminal justice system have the biggest backlog in the UK?
11 April 2024
CLAIM: Northern Ireland is the worst place in the UK for logjams in the justice system.
Rating
ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
On 14 November, an article in the Belfast Telegraph claimed that: “Northern Ireland’s Crown Court is now backlogged until the autumn of 2024, with noArticles
|
Education
|
Health
|
Law
Have 75% of 16-year-old girls in NI been harassed on the street?
4 April 2024
CLAIM: Three quarters of all 16-year-old girls in Northern Ireland have experienced on-street harassment.
Rating
ACCURATE
On 26 February, during a debate in the Assembly, Sinn Féin MLA Emma Sheerin said: “One of the statistics that really shocked me was inArticles
|
Health
Did almost 1,500 people die in NI in one year because of long waits in A&E?
27 March 2024
CLAIM: There is strong evidence that in 2022, delays in Northern Ireland’s emergency departments led to the premature deaths of 1,434 people.
Rating
ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
In an interview published on 21 January in the Irish Times, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s (RCEM) Vice Chair in Northern Ireland Dr RussellBrowse by Topic
We have written 160 fact-check reports on public statements since 2016.