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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
Articles
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Law
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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
Articles
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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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ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
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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ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
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
Articles
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Economy
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Education
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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”.
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Elections
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Peace
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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.
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ACCURATE
FactCheckNI has counted the days of existence and days of dysfunction. The Executive has been utterly collapsed for around 37.8% of that time. However, that
Articles
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Health
Does Northern Ireland support abortion?
3 November 2022
CLAIM: DUP MP Carla Lockhart claimed “Northern Ireland does not support abortion, it never has. It still doesn’t.”
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INACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
In recent years, several opinion polls have asked for NI’s views on abortion The public is broadly in favour of abortion rights when there are
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Elections
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Peace
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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.
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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,
Articles
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Economy
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Health
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Does the UK have more food banks than McDonald’s?
24 October 2022
CLAIM: There are more food banks across the UK than McDonald’s restaurants
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ACCURATE
Finding out the exact number of food banks in the UK is difficult. However, even by low estimates, there are far more food banks than
Articles
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Economy
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Topics
Will £400m of unspent public funds be wiped out by a budget deficit?
24 September 2022
CLAIM: A £400m pot left unallocated by Stormont is going to be used to cover ongoing spending by departments.
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INACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
Northern Ireland currently has around £270m in unallocated public money As things stand, this money will not be used to cover existing shortfalls – or
Articles
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Education
Have the courts said NI schools are discriminatory, and ordered them to stop indoctrinating pupils into Christianity?
21 September 2022
CLAIM: The High Court has ruled that NI schools’ exclusive focus on Christianity is discriminatory, and said they should teach about other religions as well as Christianity, and should not indoctrinate children.
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INACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
The High Court found that the core curriculum for RE lacks objectivity and promotes Christianity, in breach of human rights However, the Court made no