Elaine Byrne: In the Carlow school uniform story, assertions mattered more than facts

Comment: The furore over PE clothes at a school shows how an unverified assertion can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still languishing in its wake

A mundane school policy on PE clothing somehow morphed into unsubstantiated rumours and conjecture spread by people who should have known better.

There is a video doing the rounds on Twitter of a song released by Adriano Celentano, an Italian pop singer, almost 50 years ago. The rhythm is terrifically catchy, and the choreography of the dancing troupe is bedazzling.

Here’s a word to the wise, though – never pick Prisencolinensinainciusol as your karaoke song. It is not sung in Italian or English, but what Celentano mimicked as the way English sounds to non-speakers. The lyrics are ...