‘Totally erroneous’ – Gavin Duffy denies claim that he owns IPAS centre in Co Meath

The 65-year-old has so far been unsuccessful in his petitioning of Facebook to remove a video which shows a man approach the centre, read a site notice posted at the entrance and approach a staff member all while claiming Duffy owns the centre. The site notice lists the Whearty Brothers as planning applicants.

In a video posted to X, Mr Duffy described the video as making “totally erroneous, false and untrue statements”.

"I’m just back from a family holiday and towards the end of it kind and concerned neighbours and friends were contacting me about a post on Facebook,” he said.

“The type of public life I’ve been lucky enough to live, you do grow a thick skin. I am not frightened by false accusations of cowards who hide behind cameras and keyboards. But I also know if I don’t get this taken down it festers.

"So I need your help if you know the person who made and posted the original video, please advise them to delete it immediately.”

Duffy has previously been the victim of false claims online. In 2020, an apparent click-bait scam announced his death across social media.

When clicked on, the links took users to a Bitcoin business, alleging that entrepreneur Mr Duffy had made money from it. This reportedly led to a number of people losing hundreds of euros.

In 2021, a legal dispute between the Louth man and Facebook was resolved after he requested it desist from taking revenue from this advertising.

In a joint statement after the resolution, Duffy and Facebook Ireland said they had “resolved an issue regarding ads containing misleading and inaccurate statements about Mr Duffy, which were published on Facebook by malicious third parties”.

In a video message at the time, Duffy said both parties had agreed to work together to address any further misleading and inaccurate advertisements relating to him, in the event they should reappear on the social media platform.