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Stephen McDermott

@stemcdermott.bsky.social

2.4K followers 614 following 134 posts

Editor of The Journal FactCheck | Journalist with @thejournal.ie | Royal Canal local living in Grand Canal exile Dublin, Ireland. Email: Stephen.mcdermott@thejournal.ie

Posts Replies Media

Stephen McDermott @stemcdermott.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

The Press Ombudsperson has decided that @thejournal.ie took sufficient remedial action to resolve a complaint from Mr Michael McCarthy about an article it published in April 2026

Screenshot of a Press Ombudsperson decision on a complaint by Michael McCarthy against The Journal - outline of the articles complained about

Screenshot of a Press Ombudsperson decision on a complaint by Michael McCarthy against The Journal - outline of the complaint by Michael McCarthy

Screenshot of a Press Ombudsperson decision on a complaint by Michael McCarthy against The Journal - outline of The Journal's response to the complaint

Screenshot of a Press Ombudsperson's decision on a complaint by Michael McCarthy against The Journal - outline of the Ombudsperson's decision

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Stephen McDermott @stemcdermott.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

"What was the Chinese police station in Dublin?"

A screenshot of a question to DeepSeek asking about a Chinese 'police station' in Dublin was, followed by a non-response from DeepSeek

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Stephen McDermott @stemcdermott.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Interesting to see that DeepSeek also self-censors when you ask it relatively straightforward questions about Ireland on subjects it doesn't like...

A screenshot of a question asking DeepSeek what Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said about China, followed by a non-response from DeepSeek

A screenshot of a question asking DeepSeek whether any Uyghers live in Ireland, followed by a non-response from DeepSeek

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Stephen McDermott @stemcdermott.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Heads up if you're looking for #StormÉowyn updates here today that Met Éireann say the account posting as @meteireann.bsky.social is fake.

A screenshot of a Bluesky post from a fake Met Éireann account giving updates about Storm Éowyn

A screenshot of a post on X by Met Éireann saying that they do not have any accounts on Bluesky

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Stephen McDermott @stemcdermott.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

More election fraud conspiracies surfacing on X this evening #GE24

A poll on X asks people about whether they think electoral fraud is happening in Ireland.

A post on X asks people how Simon Harris got so many votes in Wicklow, suggesting there was election fraud involved.

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Stephen McDermott @stemcdermott.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Philip Dwyer (running as an independent in Wicklow) also latching on to the "election interference" conspiracy because he is unable to believe that he only got one vote in a box of Newtownmountkenndey votes #GE24

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Stephen McDermott @stemcdermott.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

#GE24

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Stephen McDermott @stemcdermott.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Irish far-right accounts on X have already started to seed a 'stop the steal' narrative around #GE24 - this time it's more focused on ID fraud than the 'foreign interference' claims we saw during the locals and Europeans in June (though there are still efforts to push that narrative too).

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Stephen McDermott @stemcdermott.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Back with my three screens for another live fact-check of RTÉ PrimeTime's leaders' debate for @thejournal.ie. Follow the results on our debate liveblog (with possible updates here on ad breaks): jrnl.ie/6553711t #GE2024

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Stephen McDermott @stemcdermott.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

The fake Soc Dems and Fine Gael accounts have now changed their names, and the Soc Dems account has a statement in response to @thejournal.ie story which claims the account is run by Ógra Sinn Féin (though again this hasn't been verified).

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Stephen McDermott @stemcdermott.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Either that's a fake Micheál Martin profile (that's not how the Tánaiste spells his first name), or his choice of handle has already been taken by an impersonator...

A screenshot showing a search for Micheál Martin on Bluesky. Two almost identical profiles are shown, each with the same username and picture of Micheál Martin, but the account handles are slightly different.

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Stephen McDermott @stemcdermott.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

There's fact-checking, and there's ASAI complaints...

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Stephen McDermott @stemcdermott.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Me and my three screens will live fact-checking tonight's RTÉ leaders' debate for @thejournal.ie. The results will appear on our debate liveblog (and possibly here, depending on how quickly I can type) over the course of the next 2 hours or so. Follow along here: jrnl.ie/6545327t #GE2024

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