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Showing posts with label The Journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Journal. Show all posts

The Journal 📰 Independent Senator Eileen Flynn has almost become accustomed to being the target of online abuse in Ireland, and abroad, but she said that comments about her made on X in the past week have been the worst yet.

“I’ve never experienced hate like it,” she told The Journal, after a video of remarks she made in the Seanad about the recent fuel protests went viral in certain circles online on Wednesday.

In the Seanad contribution, Flynn had said she would not attend any protests where the Irish flag was being flown because it has become a symbol exploited by members of the far right, who sought to hijack the fuel protests last week.

She told The Journal the Irish far right and other online agitators “punch down” on minority communities.

“They don’t stand for the Ireland we fought for 100 years ago and we’re still fighting for today,” Flynn said.

“I will not stand by when our flag is being used to promote hatred, division and anti-migrant remarks. For me, the flag means peace, unity and justice and equality.”

Flynn made history when she became the first woman from the Traveller community to sit in the upper house.

Continue @ The Journal.

Senator Eileen Flynn Says She Has Faced Worst Online Abuse And Hate Yet In Past Week

The Journal ★ Written by Stephen McDermott.

While many are protesting fuel costs, far-right actors and international figures are using the movement to push anti-immigrant narratives.

This week's protests about fuel costs rapidly took shape online, where much of the organisation was carried out and where those involved are continuing to coordinate.

But as tractors and trucks took to motorways and streets from Tuesday this week, a whole other narrative, which had nothing to do with fuel prices, was already forming, driven by actors with broader and more nefarious aims.

Ireland’s far-right movement has enmeshed itself with the protests from the start, a ploy which softened the ground for international figures like Tommy Robinson to spread their own narratives online from afar.

The protests are not far-right at their essence; the groups involved in peaceful protests around the country are splintered, and many of those blocking roads and motorways are simply motivated by their frustrations about the price of fuel.

But the looming presence of extreme personalities and social media accounts is stoking tensions in a way that risks pushing this loose network towards a more volatile situation in the days ahead.

The question of when far-right and anti-immigrant figures became involved remains somewhat murky.

Continue @ The Journal.

How Ireland's Far-Right Movement Got Involved In The Fuel Protests And Tried To Hijack Them

The Journal ★ Written by Stephen McDermott.

Our FactCheck editor details the internet trends seen by a thirty-something-year-old man.


It Started With an image posted to a far-right Facebook page.

I spotted it while I was scrolling early on Saturday afternoon: a map of Ireland with six red dots in a ring outside Dublin, and a caption in block capitals that read “National fuel protest assembly points Tuesday 7am”.

Soon I saw others share the same map, or AI slop pictures of trucks with the same details about assembly points for Tuesday morning, almost exclusively on pages that usually share far-right and anti-immigrant content.

Plans for a protest had, of course, been building in the days beforehand, but the images were my first glimpse into this online callout for people to go to Dublin.

They appeared in my feed because of the types of pages I monitor for work, but their reach extended far beyond those spaces over the course of the weekend.

It’s never easy to tell how big these things will be from early on, though it quickly became clear from my social media feeds that the protest was underway virtually – even though roads and motorways were clear.

Continue @ The Journal.

The Internet's Bad Actors Quickly Distorted The Fuel Protests Into A Narrative Divorced From Reality

The Journal 📰 False claims about asylum seekers often use terms in confusing and contradictory ways.

Ongoing Crisis Involving migrants have introduced an obscure lexicon about asylum seekers into political debates in Ireland.

Terms like “human trafficking”, “economic migrants”, “illegal immigration” and “refugee” are sometimes used to specify the legalities of people coming into Ireland.

However, these terms are also frequently misused by anti-immigrant groups to conflate those seeking protection with those who travel to Ireland for job opportunities.

The Journal has increasingly seen such terms used interchangeably online, including in misinformation about refugees, or at protests against new arrivals being housed in certain areas.

But digging into the meaning behind such terms shows that there are specific distinctions between those entering the country.

The conflation of these terms by anti-immigrant groups can often make them seem the same, and the thrust of arguments by those groups sound more convincing to those who can’t distinguish between them.

The Journal’s FactCheck team regularly comes across nonsense claims online that use these terms: for example, posts that that refugees are economic migrants, or that asylum-seekers in State housing are unvetted and don’t receive background checks.

Continue @ The Journal.

Explainer đŸĒļ What Is The Difference Between ‘Economic Migrants’, ‘Refugees’ And 'Asylum-Seekers'?

The Journal ✎ Last weekend Taoiseach Simon Harris raised eyebrows over comments he made linking record homelessness to an upsurge in people seeking asylum in Ireland.

28-September-2024

His remarks led to accusations that the Taoiseach was deflecting blame for the housing crisis away from the Government and on to vulnerable people.

Subsequent news analysis of Harris’ words also pointed out that his remarks could not be accurate, because asylum seekers are not counted in monthly homeless statistics.

Those figures have climbed to staggering heights this year, and the number of people living in emergency accommodation in Ireland has skyrocketed since the Government took office in the middle of 2020.

The reasons behind that trend are far more complex than immigration on its own.

Experts say the lack of housing for those in long-term homelessness is not enabling the numbers to fall, while factors like landlords leaving the private rental market are playing a much bigger role in the increasing numbers of people becoming homeless.

In April, the month Harris was appointed Taoiseach, homeless figures passed 14,000 for the first time in the history of the State.

That number has increased in every month since . . .

Continue reading @ The Journal.

The Taoiseach Said Asylum Seekers Are Driving Up Homeless Figures ✸ Experts Say It's Far More Complicated

The Journal  ✒ Recommended by Carrie Twomey.


More Than 100 suspicious social media accounts posing as Irish users are actively targeting politicians, journalists and news outlets with negative responses in a potential ‘influence operation’ ahead of the European and local elections in June.

An analysis by The Journal of over 150 anonymous accounts on X, formerly known as Twitter, examined how the accounts engaged in attempts to influence opinions on a range of divisive topics in Ireland.

Some accounts show signs of being operated by non-Irish users, despite claiming to be Irish and posting almost exclusively about Irish political issues.

The issue does not appear to be restricted to Ireland, with similar accounts on X posting about divisive topics in other countries in the same way.

Although there is no way of verifying whether any of the accounts are fake, if they are part of a wider campaign or who is behind them, The Journal has been able to investigate their impact on discourse.

It comes amid concerns from TDs and government officials, as well as experts and law enforcement agencies in Europe, about the possible influence of outside groups on the June elections.

Continue reading @ The Journal.

The Disinfluencers ⇔ How Over 150 Anonymous 'Irish' Accounts Are Swamping X With Extreme Views

The Journal ✏ The Oireachtas Committee also heard arguments in favour, with doctors saying autonomy should be encouraged.

Mairead Maguire
17-October-2023

Legislation On Assisted dying in some circumstances would contradict medical best practice, an Oireachtas Committee has heard.

However, some medical practitioners see it as an essential vessel for autonomy for patients with serious illnesses.

The committee is currently examining whether to introduce voluntary assisted dying laws in Ireland, following the passage of a bill tabled by People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny in 2020.

The committee was established in January and this morning it heard from three medical representative groups, who clashed on the issue.

In his opening statements, Dr Feargal Twomey, a consultant in palliative medicine at the Royal College of Physicians, said the:

potential harms outweigh the arguments in favour. The concept of autonomy of the person is emphasised often in discussions. However, a person’s autonomy cannot be absolute and must be balanced against the risk of harms to others.

According to data from Oregon in the United States, the three most frequently reported end-of-life concerns were decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable, loss of autonomy, and loss of dignity.

Continue reading @ The Journal.

Assisted Dying Legislation 'Contrary To Best Medical Practice', Committee Hears

The Journal 🚩On the Transgender debate in Ireland. Recommended by Carrie Twomey.

Stephen McDermott

In June Weeks before the UK media’s annual silly season was due to kick off, news outlets reported a bizarre tale that seemed like the type of scoop normally seen during the long, arid weeks of August.

A classroom controversy had apparently erupted in Rye college in East Sussex, recorded in a secret video that was posted to TikTok.

The surreptitious recording purported to contain footage of two teenage pupils telling another girl that she could not identify as a cat, before the pair were called “despicable” by their teacher for not respecting the girl’s preference.

“If you don’t like it, you need to go to a different school,” the teacher supposedly said.

The story was seized upon by outlets including The Sun, the Daily Telegraph, and the Daily Mail, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer were soon being asked about the incident.

Women and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch even demanded that the school be investigated over the teacher’s alleged remarks – despite the Rye College issuing a statement saying that none of its pupils identified “as a cat or any other animal”.

Continue reading @ The Journal.

Inside Ireland's Culture War On Gender 🔴 Why There's More Debate On Trans Issues Than Ever Before

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