Irish website Kildare Now has apologised over an 'extremely insensitive' April Fool's Day article that was published on their site.
The prank article 'reported' that 'Paddy Jihaddy' had rigged a local landmark with explosives. The article also featured a photoshopped image of the Islamic State flag on top of the landmark. Many assumed it was a April Fool's prank from the site itself and it was not well received on Twitter.
And the award for most tasteless #aprilfoolsday 'gag' goes to... https://t.co/VF8qWQ69vw pic.twitter.com/k0mYYODjQw
— HuffPost UK (@HuffPostUK) April 1, 2016
Oh no, KildareNow. Oh no. No. No. No. https://t.co/LSv9YuqaSl
— Susan Daly (@BiddyEarly) April 1, 2016
Oh no... how did nobody see this was a terrible idea? https://t.co/Tdd11vL2rU
— Steve O'Rourke (@steveohrourke) April 1, 2016
When April Fools jokes aren't done well... https://t.co/72pxcgMrBi Eeek
— Will O'Callaghan (@willocallaghan) April 1, 2016
"Kildare Now would like to apologise unreservedly to everybody who was rightly offended by the article which was extremely insensitive especially in light of recent tragic events in Brussels and elsewhere," they said.
The apology which you can read in full here, explains that the article was not published by a member of the editorial team and that Kildare Now have launched an investigation into how their site was hacked.
