Fact check: Photograph of homeless person on Dublin street was taken in 2019

An image circulating online appears to show a homeless person sleeping next to an election poster for Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach Simon Harris. As well as being shared by individuals, the image has been posted by critics of the Harris-led Government, including an election candidate in Kilkenny and the socialist party People Before Profit.

Evaluation

The image has been manipulated with photo-editing software to add the Fine Gael election poster.

The facts

A reverse image search of the part of the picture showing the homeless person produces results including a page on the stock image website Shutterstock. The full version of the original image shows a chocolate bar advertisement instead of the Fine Gael poster.

The positioning of the sleeping bag, flattened cardboard boxes and a water bottle are identical in both images, as is graffiti on the wall and stains on the pavement.

Shutterstock caption information says the photo was uploaded on July 11 2019 and was taken in Dublin city centre a week earlier on July 4 2019.

A satirical website published the manipulated picture on November 7 2024, as indicated in the URL of the page link. The website used the image under the satirical headline: “Homeless asked not to sleep directly in front of Fine Gael election posters”. No earlier versions of the edited image can be found.

The three X posts found to be sharing the manipulated image were all made on either November 7 or 8.

Links

First post on X (archived)

Post by independent candidate on X (archived)

Post by People Before Profit on X (archived)

Google Lens search (archived)

Sleeping bag on street royalty-free images, stock photos & pictures | Shutterstock (archived)

4th July 2019 Dublin Ireland image stock photo 1447944308 | Shutterstock (archived)

Homeless asked not to sleep directly in front of Fine Gael election posters – Waterford Whispers News (archived)