There's No Such Thing as Misinformation

A case study from Ireland

An historic misinformation-spreader prepares to face justice

You will recall that in March of this year Ireland went to the polls to vote on some amendments to modernise the Constitution. Of the proposed changes, the most column inches were generated by the one that would have removed the word “woman”.

Another proposed change would have redefined “family” to include anyone with whom you have a nebulous “durable relationship”. This one went under the radar in the international press, in part because the implications weren’t obvious. But in Ireland, lots of people feared that the redefinition would increase chain migration and encouraged a No vote on that basis.

It’s important to note that a flat reading of the proposed text might leave any reasonable person with the opinion that, yes, there was an immigration impact. But people like to hear from experts on these things and the government were asked if they’d received any legal advice that the fears were grounded in reality; their response was that they hadn’t, and that the concerns were baseless. The government were forceful and direct on this point because by then immigration had become an all-consuming black hole at the centre of Irish life.