Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has criticised “utter nonsense” false stories about him which went “viral” and were accepted as “gospel”, while warning of the challenge of disinformation online.
In pre-Christmas remarks given to political reporters, Mr Ryan criticised two stories which had circulated in recent years that had no factual basis.
Mr Ryan referenced a claim made in the Dáil by Independent TD for Limerick County, Richard O’Donoghue, that he had come to Limerick by train and sent a State car with his bicycle in the boot – something the Dublin Bay South TD later dismissed.
Mr Ryan said the story was “utter nonsense and it went viral”. The Green Party leader also raised a story published by an outlet about him in 2021 which claimed a nephew of his had run a bike hire service in Offaly, which was not correct – the person concerned not being related to Mr Ryan.
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“There’s another story in the midlands and Offaly that I was responsible for someone losing their bike franchise. It was absolutely accepted as gospel. Complete and utter nonsense, untrue,” he said, adding: “There is an issue at the moment in the disinformation, viral world where ‘what is the truth, where does the truth lie?’ – and you won’t counter that.”
Mr Ryan suggested he would not spend time on social media battling against the claims and that the “antidote” was to invest in “good quality journalism”. “The disinformation and the kind of conspiracy theories that are out there is a real part of the thing we have to challenge, have to meet,” he said.
He said some of the commentary online was “really toxic” and not reflective of Irish people’s views. He said that the issue of climate had become divisive in the United States and elsewhere, which had been accentuated by social media – something he said had to be avoided in Ireland.
[ Eamon Ryan ‘regrets’ abandoning 2004 presidential race but rules out 2025 bidOpens in new window ]
“It’s difficult because you have an online world where it’s used in this toxic, divisive, polarising way,” the Green Party leader said. He argued that it is the job of the political system to counter disinformation, promising more engagement on climate topics in 2024 – including with the agricultural sector, which he said was the “most difficult” area facing the Government. During these engagements, he promised to admit to some of the uncertainties regarding issues such as land use and the measurement of carbon in soil.
“Let’s sit down and work together to work out a way in which we can benefit Irish farming by doing this. Starting by admitting that the science keeps changing, on land use particularly, and have a conversation. And I think that approach would see us avoiding going down the American divisive way.”
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