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Peace

Do the people of Northern Ireland want the Assembly to return?
30 January 2024

CLAIM: Recent polling data indicates that the Northern Irish public wants devolution restored.

Rating

ACCURATE

Professor Shirlow is the Director of the Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool. On 29 January, he claimed in a post on

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Elections

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Europe

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Law

Do the TUV’s seven reasons why Stormont can’t return stand up to scrutiny?
24 October 2023

TUV Leader Jim Allister MLA has laid out seven reasons why Stormont cannot and must not return, so long as the Protocol remains in place

Rating

MIXED

Speaking on 13 September to the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) Central Council, party leader Jim Allister MLA said there are seven reasons why Stormont “must

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Elections

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Peace

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Topics

Did Sinn Féin collapse Stormont for three years?
12 October 2023

CLAIM: Sinn Féin brought down Northern Ireland’s political institutions for three years between early 2017 and early 2020.

Rating

IT'S COMPLICATED

On BBC NI show Sunday Politics on 1 October, News Letter editor Ben Lowry said: “Sinn Fein brought down Stormont for three years, three years

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Elections

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Topics

Could the UUP and SDLP change their designations to prevent the DUP from nominating a deputy First Minister?
28 September 2023

CLAIM: If MLAs from the UUP and SDLP switched their Stormont community designations to ‘Other’, this would remove the DUP’s entitlement to nominate a deputy First Minister.

Rating

ACCURATE

A letter printed in the Irish News on 18 September claimed that the UUP and SDLP could have prevented the DUP from being entitled to

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Economy

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Elections

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Peace

Do divisions in society cost Northern Ireland between £400m and £830m every year?
16 May 2023

CLAIM: The cost of social division to the public purse in NI ranges between £400m and £830m every year.

Rating

ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION

In its manifesto issued ahead of the 2023 local government elections, the Alliance Party claimed: “The current estimates of the cost of division range between

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Elections

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Peace

Is there no growth in public support for a United Ireland? Is support shrinking instead?
30 March 2023

CLAIMS: There is no evidence of increased support for Northern Ireland leaving the UK - in fact, every major poll points in the other direction.

Rating

ACCURATE / INACCURATE

On 15 March, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP told the National Press Club in Washington DC: “There is no evidence of growing support for

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Economy

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Elections

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Europe

Did Unionism always oppose the Northern Ireland Protocol?
23 March 2023

CLAIM: Unionism was against the NI Protocol from day one

Rating

ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION

On 15 March, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP told the National Press Club in Washington DC: “Unionism rejected the NI Protocol from day one.”

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Elections

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Peace

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Topics

Has the Executive been in a state of collapse for 40% of its existence?
8 November 2022

CLAIM: There have been several recent claims that, since it was first established a year and a half after the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland’s devolved institutions have not been functioning for 40% of the time.

Rating

ACCURATE

***UPDATE FOR 28 JULY 2023: Since this fact check was published, another 262 days have passed – all without a functioning Executive. That takes the

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Elections

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Peace

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Topics

Did the 2006 St Andrews Agreement effectively give the DUP and Sinn Féin a veto over the formation of an Executive?
26 October 2022

CLAIM: Irish Times columnist Stephen Collins claimed that the 2006 St Andrews Agreement modified the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in such a way that it has effectively handed both the DUP and Sinn Féin veto powers over the formation of an Executive at Stormont.

Rating

INACCURATE

The 2006 St Andrews Agreement made significant changes to the rules for nominating a First and deputy First Minister and, thus, forming an Executive. However,

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Elections

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Topics

Do less than 0.03% of the population of Northern Ireland have a vote in the Conservative Party leadership election 2022?
9 August 2022

CLAIM: Less than 0·03% of the population of Northern Ireland has a vote in the Conservative Party leadership election 2022.

Rating

UNSUBSTANTIATED

The Tory Party does not release membership figures The 0.03% figure is based on an estimate of the number of party members in NI While

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Elections

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Explainer

When is 40.3 not higher than 39.6?
8 June 2022
CLAIM: The nationalist vote in Northern Ireland has not increased since 1998. RATING: Accurate? Inaccurate? Neither? Maybe a little bit of everything? Most of the

Articles

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Economy

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Elections

Are 40,000 people in NI on the Housing Executive waiting list, with 30,000 of those in housing stress?
18 May 2022

CLAIM: Over 40,000 people in Northern Ireland are on the Housing Executive waiting list - with 30,000 of them in ‘housing stress’ - yet only around 2,000 social or affordable homes are built each year.

Rating

ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION

The Ulster Unionist Party manifesto for the 2022 Assembly Election says: “Unfortunately, over 40,000 people in Northern Ireland are on the NI Housing Executive (NIHE)