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NORTHERN IRELAND IS a society with a lot of questions.
Does it really have the lowest disposable income in the UK? Do 1 in 5 people living there really have a disability? What about the gigantic peace walls which bisect some communities - is it true that most people want them to stay?
A new project called FactCheckNI is aiming to answer these, and many more questions about Northern Ireland.
FactCheckNI was launched in Belfast last week, and its team of five people will rigorously check claims made about Northern Ireland by politicians and in the media.
Already on its site, the team has checked a claim that the ban on paying for sex in Northern Ireland has led to an 80% increase in the number of sex workers in the Republic of Ireland – and found that while it is difficult to get accurate data on sex workers, the claim is ‘unlikely’.
The team also checked a claim by a businessman that people in Northern Ireland have less than half of the weekly disposable income compared to households in the rest of the UK, and found that while Northern Ireland’s economy is growing, it is still disproportionately behind the rest of the UK.
The people behind the site say that it will give the public access to unbiased facts, will help to keep politicians honest, and may possibly help to change public policy in the process.
“We’ve all seen the suspicious photo meme on Facebook, but people don’t realise how this can be used maliciously to provoke violence on our streets,” said Enda Young, who is involved with the project.
FactCheckNI will provide free tools, information and advice, so that anyone can check the claims that are made by politicians and the media.
There are already more than 100 fact-checking projects in almost 40 countries around the world, according to Alexios Mantzarlis, the head of the International Fact-Checking Network at the Poynter Institute in the US – including our own project here at TheJournal.ie.
“What makes fact-checking so appealing is its ability to counter a widespread preoccupation of a lack of objectivity in politics, in the hope that a public discourse grounded in facts will lead to better policies and a healthier polity,” said Mantzarlis.
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Or why they planted bombs in Dublin & Monaghan
@christopher – bombs were planted and exploded in Dublin and Monaghan to steer a Dail decision in the “right” direction https://eurofree3.wordpress.com/2016/01/06/hidden-hand-the-dublin-monaghan-bombings/
What exactly are you saying Anne ?
have a look at the video in the post and you will understand what the programme says
NB the video programme was made by an independent TV company
https://eurofree3.wordpress.com/2016/01/06/hidden-hand-the-dublin-monaghan-bombings/
Since when has been linking to someone’s blog been considered a reliable or good source!
If you’re going to tell me that the best source of correct information is a blog on the Internet then I’m gonna go ahead and just call you a conspiracist crackpot.
The truth is deeply buried.
@ the throwaway
the blog in this instance just reports a video with some comments by the writer. The video (with reports and coments by the Garda Siochana) may or may not be considered reliable info – make up your own mind. It certainly provides food for thought.
In considering other controversies (feel free to browse) the blog provides a series of reputable references to back up comments. It’s far from being a conspiracist crackpot set-up – but if you want to consider it as such, go right ahead. There’s no denying ignorance in some cases.
For everyone else, whatever the point covered,( OTRs from Belfast Zoo https://eurofree3.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/belfast-zoo-and-its-otrs-on-the-runs-the-way-we-were/ or jonathan swift’s modest proposal on how to deal with extreme loyalists https://eurofree3.wordpress.com/a-modest-proposal-for-preventing-the-loyalists-in-ireland-from-being-a-burden-on-their-fellow-citizens-or-country-and-for-making-them-beneficial-to-the-publick/
it’s worth looking at, worth thinking over, worth taking the time to decide for yourselves.
Love to know who the leader of the IRA was in the 80s and 90s. It’s one of the world’s greatest mysteries. Like the Marie Celeste and the Bermuda Triangle.
Why ? Are you looking to give them a medal ?
I would love to know why British Intelligence agents colluded with loyalists in the murder of nationalists and covered it up.
It’s not really a mystery, anyone has studied the Troubles or had kept up to speed know two it was. K. McK. There’s his initials, do a bit of research and stop being so lazy!
So would I Paul. I’d also like to know why members of SF have covered for the murderers of Paul Quinn and Robert McCartney. Or don’t they count?
What are you on about Jane, count for what? Your man asked a ridiculous question that a 10 second google search would give the answer to. Try google yourself to find out, it’s common knowledge!
easy answer to your questions, Paul – 1) Irish lives don’t count.
2) Why the Cover up? treating (officially) british citizens like 19th century denizens of some forgotten colony is very, very, non-PC in this day and age
PaulJ My response was to Paul Mc.
@paul mc who asked why British Intelligence agents colluded with loyalists in the murder of nationalists
Answers: 1) to avoid fighting on 2 fronts – easier to try and wipe out insurgents than those who professed “Loyalty”. 2) To act in concert with the republic of ireland which saw insurgents against british rule as insurgents against the irish state.
3) Why the cover up? treating (officially) British citizens like 19th century denizens of some forgotten colony is very, very, non-PC in this day and age
So then was Gerry o/c PIRA for 20 years or 25?
I ask this because Gerry and his bank of newly elected ‘tiocfidh armani’ TDs seem to have memory problems.
So Larry, couldn’t understand a word………….
That sounds exactly like what Brigadier Adams might say.
Fascinating, absolutely fascinating. It really is fascinating.
Why won’t the psni bring former uvf commander Gary Haggarty before a court now that he has turned supergrass?
Is his former ruc handlers now working for the psni ?
Whats the point in this? You haven’t even cracked the surface of the crap spewed here, maybe you should start the fact check with the journal.ie
Rare for anything to be unbiased in N Ireland.
Are they the biggest welfare queens?
have your say