Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I will give my apologies before I start because as soon as this is over, I will have to leave because I am due at a debate in the Dáil. I am delighted to have the opportunity to come in here and to listen to all the witnesses and everything they had to say. I am from Clondalkin. We have one of the longest-established direct provision centres in our area. Contrary to what is going on now, a couple of years ago, the Clondalkin Towers Direct Provision centre was in danger of closing and being moved out of our community. The people of Clondalkin got behind it and rallied to keep it there, not because they were in favour of direct provision but because they were in favour of the people who were living in their community, who had enriched it and whose children go to school and play football with my children. Lads were involved in Tidy Towns and so on. These people are part of our community. There was no misinformation about them at the time. It goes to show how far we have gone in the wrong way when misinformation can take hold. That is the biggest thing. If misinformation had taken hold back then, there could have been a different community response. I am glad to say there was not.

We have all seen the spread of fearmongering, hate and misinformation. A dominant narrative was being put out by one side on social media and other platforms and there has been misdirected anger. When you see mammies with buggies protesting against mammies with buggies, it shows something is wrong with that part of society. People have a right to protest if they are angry about Government failings on housing, health, education or whatever it might be. However, I plead with people to take their protest to the Dáil and the Houses of the Oireachtas, where people are making the decisions that are affecting their lives. I ask them not to take it out on vulnerable people who have escaped trauma and war-torn situations and are trying to build a better life or sometimes simply to save their lives. That is the wrong way of going about things.

I am not sure whether the witnesses have slightly different opinions about how we can combat misinformation. I have changed tack. I speak about misinformation in these Houses all day but I do not engage on social media any more because once I do, there is a big pile-on. In my area, I now meet people directly, face to face and have conversations with them. I find it to be a more worthwhile exercise than giving others a platform to spread their bile and hate. How do we best combat the misinformation that is being spread? That is a general question to all the witnesses.