CLAIMS SHARED ON social media have falsely said that a man charged with alleged firearms offences in the Parnell Square area of Dublin this week is not Irish.

A man was arrested on 28 May for “alleged offences under the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act”.

He appeared in court on 29 May and was named as Oisin Peavoy, 38, with an address on Granby Row in Dublin 1. He was remanded in custody after a series of incidents on the day of his arrest.

An initial Garda statement after his arrest said that “alleged threatening behaviour was undertaken”, though it did not provide the suspect’s nationality.

Rumours shared on social media in the wake of the attack falsely claimed that the assailant was a foreign national.

Social media users noted that the incident was reminiscent of a knife attack in November that preceded a night of rioting in Dublin, particularly as it took place near the same school where three children and their carer were injured.

Some social media users believed that, like the alleged assailant in the case in November, the person arrested in the latest incident was not Irish.

One person who claimed to be an eyewitness wrote on Facebook: “He was arrested at Parnell Street Luas stop. And he had broken English so [100%] he was not Irish. But cover up media will try say he was Irish.”

Other rumours spread on X, formerly Twitter, similarly alleging that the man who was arrested was a foreign national.

However, media reports on the day reported that the assailant is an Irish national. Garda sources confirmed this to The Journal.

Gardaí also said in the wake of the incident that they are aware of “online misinformation which is becoming widely circulated” in relation to the incident.

“We appeal to all members of the public to independently verify any information on social media and / or messaging app,” gardaí said in a post on X.

Contains reporting by Cormac Fitzgerald and Tom Tuite.

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