FactCheckNI
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FactCheckNI is Northern Ireland’s first and only dedicated not for profit fact checking and training service. Accuracy matters.
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We’ve had a lot of new followers in recent days, so we thought we’d (re)introduce ourselves!

FactCheckNI is an independent team of fact-checkers committed to examining key public statements related to Northern Ireland.
FactCheckNI
factcheckni.bsky.social
🎓Does Northern Ireland really have a shortage of local uni places?

NI’s universities face a challenge: demand outstrips supply. But the story is more complicated than it seems - with funding caps, student choices, and migration all in the mix. 📊

Read our full analysis 👇

#HigherEdNI #Education
factcheckni.bsky.social
👥 Northern Ireland is getting older.

There are now more people aged 70+ than children under 10.

What does this mean for our future health, pensions & policies?

Read more ➡️ factcheckni.org/articles/dem...

#northernireland #demographics #factcheckni
factcheckni.bsky.social
Read the full fact check ➡️ factcheckni.org/articles/imm...

#FactCheckNI #Belfast #NorthernIreland #Migration
https://factcheckni.org/articles/immig…
factcheckni.bsky.social
Does Belfast have the 2nd highest number of asylum seekers in the UK, and do almost a fifth of them live in BT12, as claimed by DUP MLA Edwin Poots?

❌ No.
📊Belfast ranks 20th overall.
👥With 0.6% of the local population (1 in 167 people).
➡️ No data confirms the BT12 claim.
factcheckni.bsky.social
📊 Yet in both decades, the number of UK & Ireland-born residents grew more than those born elsewhere.

📈Overall, NI's population has been steadily increasing for decades.

Read our full explainer here: factcheckni.org/articles/exp...

#NorthernIreland #Census #Migration #Population #Data
Explainer: Where were the people who live here born? - FactCheckNI
FactCheckNI is planning a short series of articles looking at the demographics of Northern Ireland, examining changes in population age, religion and place of birth. These articles are designed to be ...
factcheckni.org
factcheckni.bsky.social
The data tells us:

🌍For over 100 years, less than 1% were born outside UK & Ireland

➡️By 2001: 1.8%

📈Now: 6.5%

✈️Most came from Europe, esp. Poland & Lithuania.

⏰The growth in numbers of people born elsewhere was faster between 2001–2011 than between 2011–2021.
factcheckni.bsky.social
📊 FactCheckNI has a new series exploring NI’s demographics-exploring age,religion and place of birth.

These articles are designed to be a reference point for what’s changed and what’s stayed the same over time.

➡️First up: place of birth.Where were people who call NI home born?
factcheckni.bsky.social
Does Belfast really house more “illegal migrants” than every other UK city except Glasgow? Turns out, no.

This FactCheckNI article slices through the noise with clear, evidence-based insight.

Read our full analysis 👉 factcheckni.org/articles/imm...

#FactCheckNI #NorthernIreland #Belfast
factcheckni.bsky.social
🌍 Who comes to the UK, and what are they entitled to?

Most UK migrants are here legally - and unauthorised migrants have very limited entitlements. In this article we unpack the facts behind the headlines.

👉 Read the full explainer here: factcheckni.org/articles/exp...
Explainer: Who migrates to the UK and what are they entitled to?
factcheckni.bsky.social
🔺In updating our readers, we want to show how these statistics – and how they are – or not – recorded matter in terms of how we in Northern Ireland deal with the worrying level of VAWG.

It’s not easy to address an issue when we can’t say what precisely that issue is.
factcheckni.bsky.social
🔺What we found appeared to indicate significant shortcomings in the data collected and ultimately published by the service.

🔺As part of our research, we submitted an FOI request to the PSNI in May. Last week we received a response which validated the concerns we raised.
factcheckni.bsky.social
We recently published an analysis of what is known about Violence Against Women and Girls in Northern Ireland, focusing on the criminal justice system and, in particular, the statistical records maintained by the PSNI.
Reposted by FactCheckNI
factcheckni.bsky.social
Who migrates to the UK and what are they entitled to?

🔺Immigration has been a recurring theme in UK, Irish and global politics over the last number of years. In some cases there have been protests, riots and attacks on people who are perceived not to be ‘local’.
factcheckni.bsky.social
Crime in NI: Have reoffending rates risen to nearly 75%?

UUP MLA Doug Beattie recently claimed: “[R]e-offending rates in Northern Ireland have gone from 70% in 2016 to around 74% in 2024”.

Was he right? No.
factcheckni.bsky.social
Is bad information impacting the communities or groups you work with?

Thousands have benefitted from our training sessions in fact-checking and critical thinking skills.

Find out how NI’s first and only fact checking organisation can support you.

factcheckni.org/training/
factcheckni.bsky.social
🔺In short, FactCheckNI has found that the vast majority of migrants to the UK are legal, and unauthorised migrants are barely entitled to anything at all.
factcheckni.bsky.social
🔺Sometimes discussions and debates are based on inaccurate information about who exactly is coming to the UK. There can also be misunderstandings about what rights and benefits various groups of people are entitled to.
factcheckni.bsky.social
Who migrates to the UK and what are they entitled to?

🔺Immigration has been a recurring theme in UK, Irish and global politics over the last number of years. In some cases there have been protests, riots and attacks on people who are perceived not to be ‘local’.
factcheckni.bsky.social
For those who are new to the work of Northern Ireland's first dedicated non-profit fact checking service, you can check out our work here: www.factcheckni.org
factcheckni.bsky.social
This July, FactCheckNI is 10!

For a decade, we’ve been checking facts, tackling misinformation, and championing critical thinking in NI.

Stick with us as we keep holding power to account and standing up for evidence and integrity.
Celebrating 10 years of FactCheckNI