'Neither Department nor Minister' paid for likes and retweets of maternity hospital tweet

Keen observers noted the video got 200 retweets in a matter of minutes however, most of the users who retweeted it have zero followers or appear to be spam or “bot” accounts

In the wake of the Cabinet’s decision to approve the new National Maternity Hospital deal, Mr Donnelly posted a video update on social media to sell the virtue of the proposal. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly and his department have strongly rejected suggestions they paid for Twitter likes and retweets.

In the wake of the Cabinet’s decision to approve the new National Maternity Hospital deal, Mr Donnelly posted a video update on social media to sell the virtue of the proposal.

Keen observers noted the video got 200 retweets in a matter of minutes after being posted, however, most of the users who retweeted the minister’s tweet have zero followers or appear to be spam or “bot” accounts.

It emerged last night that both Fianna Fáil and the Department of Health have asked Twitter to investigate a surge of activity on the tweet.

The surge in retweets from such suspicious accounts drew criticism from the opposition, with Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane commenting: “Going by the retweets there are a lot of people in Turkey taking a keen interest in the NMH”.

The Department of Health said that neither it or the minister have paid for likes or retweets.

“Neither the Department nor the Minister have paid for any promotional activity in relation to his social media accounts,” said a spokesperson.

A short time after the anomaly was spotted, the number of retweets dramatically reduced as many of the “bot” accounts were removed.

“This morning, the Government agreed to proceed with the building of the new National Maternity Hospital. It’s a really important decision and the new hospital is going to be central to women’s healthcare into the future,” Minister Donnelly said in the short video recorded in the courtyard of Government Buildings.

Sources in the Fianna Fáil party said a similar anomaly occurred on tweets from the Fianna Fáil account and on a tweet by Fianna Fáil senator Lorraine Clifford Lee about the NMH.

Twitter has already taken action on some accounts for breaches of spam policy, following complaints from the party, sources have said.

In the Dáil, during a debate on a Sinn Féin motion seeking to ensure the hospital is fully publicly owned, Mr Cullinane accused the Government of acting in a “deeply cynical” manner by not opposing the motion, but not supporting it.

“It is deeply cynical to not oppose a motion while at the same time having no intention of supporting it,” Mr Cullinane said.

“If the Government is not going to oppose it then it should vote against it. If it is going to support it, then it should implement it. It seems to me that is not what the Government is going to do,” he added.

Social Democrats TD Holly Cairns, in a powerful intervention, said: “While this Dáil still debates legislation relating to the legacies of the cruel and twisted system, today it is abundantly clear that the Government has learned nothing from our history.”

“That gifting our national maternity hospital to St. Vincent's, set up by the Religious Sisters of Charity, is even up for discussion disregards and compounds the suffering that many thousands of people have experienced at the hands of the church and State. In addition, genuine concerns of mothers have been dismissed as misinformation,” she said.