Irish News media bias and reliability
Media Bias/Fact Check places Irish News as leaning left. We have seen it on 74 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is Irish News biased?
Media Bias/Fact Check places Irish News as leaning left. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is Irish News left or right?
Media Bias/Fact Check places Irish News as leaning left. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Left.
Is Irish News reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for Irish News are Media Bias/Fact Check: High factuality. These are outlet-level assessments, not a guarantee that every report is correct.
What Irish News has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with Irish News’s own report linked underneath.
Police in Northern Ireland are investigating a report of an alleged assault on a cleric. The incident occurred at St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral in Armagh and involved Enoch Burke confronting Archbishop John McDowell. A video appears to show Burke grabbing the Archbishop's arm.
Irish News reported it asPSNI investigating ‘assault’ of Church of Ireland primate after Enoch Burke posts video of incident (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Four senior politicians have called on the European Union to seize €210 billion in frozen Russian assets. They argue these funds could finance Ukraine's defence and reconstruction, and that Russia has a legal obligation to pay for its invasion.
Irish News reported it asReeves tells EU ‘the time to act is now’ in seizing Russian assets for Ukraine (opens Irish News in a new tab)
A localized ceasefire in Oleshky, Ukraine, brokered by First Lady Melania Trump, began on Tuesday to facilitate humanitarian aid. This comes as President Zelenskyy reported a significant overnight barrage of Russian missiles and drones.
Irish News reported it asCeasefire in devastated Ukrainian city holds for first 30 hours, officials say (opens Irish News in a new tab)
The UK government is set to invest £15 million in a new fund aimed at tackling misogyny. The initiative will provide support for mentoring, training, and public awareness campaigns, with the investment expected to be confirmed at the upcoming Budget.
Irish News reported it asChancellor invests £15m in fund to tackle misogyny (opens Irish News in a new tab)
HSBC announced a 32% rise in third-quarter pretax profit to $9.6 billion, alongside a share buyback programme of up to $1 billion. Revenue reached $18.6 billion, slightly below forecasts, while net interest income increased.
Irish News reported it asHSBC quarterly profit surge sparks fresh calls for bank tax hike in Budget (opens Irish News in a new tab)
The Chancellor has announced plans to cut import tariffs on more than 100 products, including food staples, as part of a series of 'everyday fixes' ahead of the upcoming Budget. Other measures include changes to parental pay and carer's allowance.
Irish News reported it asMinisters unveil five ‘everyday fixes’ to help with living costs ahead of Budget (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Weekend unrest in France left roughly 3,000 shops damaged and could generate claims exceeding €13 billion. Authorities launched a digital tool to identify looters, and insurers prepared to assist, though coverage may be limited.
Irish News reported it asPolice deploy in big numbers and museums shut as France braces for more protests (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Israeli soldiers shot and killed two men near Hebron in the occupied West Bank. At least five people were injured. Israel's military stated the men carried firearms. Following the incident, Israel ordered its army to prepare for a full closure of the West Bank.
Irish News reported it asIsrael orders army to prepare for full closure of West Bank (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Russia has indicated readiness to resume trilateral talks with Ukraine and the United States after November 4. Presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov described the potential next round as exploratory, suggesting initial meetings might not yield significant outcomes.
Irish News reported it asPutin agrees to resume talks on Ukraine war with Kyiv and Washington – Kremlin (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Russia's position on an energy truce with Ukraine remains unchanged, with Moscow seeking lasting peace rather than a temporary ceasefire, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. His remarks precede a meeting between President Putin and US special representative Steve Witkoff.
Irish News reported it asPutin agrees to resume talks on Ukraine war with Kyiv and Washington – Kremlin (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Preparations have begun for a trilateral summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and US President Donald Trump. The meeting is planned for the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, in November. Putin's attendance at a December G20 summit in Miami is contingent on APEC outcomes.
Irish News reported it asPutin agrees to resume talks on Ukraine war with Kyiv and Washington – Kremlin (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Conservative MP Sir David Davis's reference to "IRA lawyers" during a debate on the Troubles Legacy Bill has drawn strong criticism. Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill called the remarks "shameful", while John Finucane, MP for North Belfast, demanded an apology.
Irish News reported it as‘Shame on you, David’: Pat Finucane son demands apology over ‘IRA lawyers’ comments by Tory MP (opens Irish News in a new tab)
France deployed thousands of police officers to manage protests over living costs and school funding. A planned march in Paris was rerouted to the city's southeastern edge, with authorities citing concerns over potential unrest and damage to businesses.
Irish News reported it asCalm returns to French capital after weekend of rioting and looting (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Britain will continue to press the US for ongoing support for Ukraine, a minister has stated. Relations between Kyiv and Washington have deteriorated following Donald Trump's decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel.
Irish News reported it asUK will ‘make case’ for US to continue backing Ukraine amid strained relations (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Novelist Sally Rooney's books will no longer be supplied in the UK by her publisher, Faber. Rooney stated that fulfilling publishing contracts in the UK could now constitute a serious criminal offence due to her support for Palestine Action, a group banned in the UK.
Irish News reported it asNormal People author Sally Rooney has books withdrawn from UK over her support of Palestine Action (opens Irish News in a new tab)
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in London. The UK will accelerate the supply of surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine and is preparing new sanctions against the Russian Federation. The meeting follows criticism of Zelensky by Donald Trump.
Irish News reported it asUK’s support for Ukraine ‘will not change’, Burnham tells Zelensky (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Toby Fowlston, chief executive of recruitment group Robert Walters, said artificial intelligence is reshaping employment, boosting demand for staff and creating new opportunities for lawyers, compliance and cyber‑security specialists. The company posted a 10% increase in UK net fees, its shares rose about 8%, and it trimmed its workforce by roughly 15% last year.
Irish News reported it asAI has caused ‘very good’ disruption to job market, recruiter boss says (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Barack Obama accepted an honorary doctorate from Queen's University Belfast, later addressing crowds on the importance of peace and democracy. He spoke about the Good Friday Agreement and the current situation in Gaza and Israel.
Irish News reported it asBarack Obama says Good Friday Agreement ‘shining example’ of peace during Belfast appearance (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Kyler Rattray, 21, denies murdering scientist Dr Fortune Gomo, 39, in Dundee on July 5, 2025. Prosecutors allege the murder was aggravated by race and will be charged under the Hate Crime and Public Order Crime Act. A trial is set for January 2028.
Irish News reported it asMan pleads not guilty to ‘racist’ murder of scientist in Dundee (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with US President Donald Trump about an energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Carney expressed Canada's support for the agreement and reiterated President Zelenskyy's call for Russia to uphold it.
Irish News reported it asPM says UK backs energy ceasefire after claims Ukraine and Russia had agreed one (opens Irish News in a new tab)
Who says so
One organisation has published a rating for this outlet. Where they disagree, the disagreement is the useful part and it is left standing.
- Media Bias/Fact CheckleanLeftCheck it
How reliably it reports fact
A rating of the newsroom in general, by others, and a different thing from the Trust score we publish on each story, which judges one piece of reporting.
High factuality
- Media Bias/Fact CheckhighCheck it
Who owns it
We hold no ownership record for Irish News.
Where it publishes from
- Publishes from
- Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
- Official site
- irishnews.com
- Seen publishing on
- irishnews.com
- Access
- Free to read
- Wikipedia
- Entry
What we have seen ourselves
Counted across the stories this site has published, which is the only denominator a reader can check: every one of them has a page, and every page lists the reports it was written from.
- Stories
- 74
- Reports listed
- 76
- We could read
- 11
- First seen
- 4 August 2026
65 of those reports were paywalled or blocked to us. Our reading of this outlet is built on the 11 we could open, not on everything it published.
On 16 of those stories, outlets rated left were largely absent from the coverage and Irish News ran the story anyway.
Across the 74 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, we logged no report earlier than Irish News’s on 4 of them. Overall it filed a median of 23 hours after the earliest report we logged.
Measured 4 November 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 3 November 2026. Ratings pulled 4 November 2026.
Other outlets rated the same way
Publishers carrying the same published leaning as Irish News, also publishing from United Kingdom, ordered by how often we have seen them on a story. Sharing a rating is not the same as being alike.
Think this page is wrong?
The leanings above are published by AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check, and we republish them rather than make them. If you think one is misapplied, the strongest place to say so is with the organisation that made it, and every verdict here links to their page.
What we are responsible for is everything else: the ownership chain, where Irish News publishes from, which of our stories we have listed it on, and whether we have the right publisher at all. Tell us what is wrong and an editor reads it.
Report something wrong on this page
Anything we correct is written up in the public corrections log. We do not publish reader votes as a rating, because an unattributed rating is the thing this site exists to argue against.
Every rating on this page is a named third party’s published work, republished with its author and, where one exists, a link to it. Our own coverage record is the section we measure ourselves. Neither is a judgement of any individual report: those are scored story by story, and the reasoning is on our methodology page.