Latest Fact Checks

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Economy

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Health

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Would it cost the Irish government £880m to provide free GP care?

31 January 2023

CLAIM: Provision of GP appointments that are free at the point of delivery would cost the Dublin Exchequer an extra £880m per year.

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INACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION

On 17 January, crossbench peer Lord Kilclooney claimed: “To provide free GP care in the Republic of Ireland, which already exists in NI as it

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Law

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Topics

Are an average of three women killed by men each week?

25 January 2023

CLAIM: On average, three women are killed by men every week, while one in four women has been a victim of rape or sexual assault at some point.

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ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION

On 11 January, Alliance MLA Kate Nicholl tweeted: “In a society where 3 women are killed each week by a men and 1 in 4

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Peace

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Topics

Was Northern Ireland part of the Irish Free State for a day?

15 December 2022

CLAIM: Tánaiste Leo Varadkar claimed that, on 6 December 1922, Northern Ireland was both already in existence and technically a part of the Irish Free State.

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On 6 December, Ireland’s Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said: “Article 12 of the Treaty [the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which created the Irish Free State] created

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Economy

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Uncategorized

Are driving examiners striking across the UK?

13 December 2022

CLAIM: A BBC report said that driving examiners and rural payment officers at sites across the UK are planning to strike.

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On 29 November, the BBC reported that driving examiners and rural payments officers represented by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union are planning to

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Economy

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Topics

Did the GDP gap between NI and Britain’s wealthiest regions grow by almost 44% between 2000 and 2014?

5 December 2022

CLAIM: Between 2000 and 2014, the gap in GDP per capita between NI and the three wealthiest regions of GB increased by 44%.

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INACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION

Ireland’s Future used inappropriate data to reach its conclusion By coincidence, analysis of official GDP data leads to results which are similar but not the

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Economy

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Education

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Topics

Do far more young people in Northern Ireland have no qualifications, compared with peers in England?

23 November 2022

CLAIM: Based on figures from 2015, an average of 6.3% of young people across the nine regions of England had no qualifications - compared with 10.4% of those in NI.

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ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION

This statistic is accurate, based on analysis from a recent research paper. However, its use lacks some context – in particular, about NI’s “brain drain”.