SO THIS NEWS item appeared in the Sligo Weekender last weekend.

If you haven’t read it, you should stop what you’re doing right now and just absorb the magnitude of this.

Twitter / Ciaran McHugh Twitter / Ciaran McHugh / Ciaran McHugh

The momentous news was discovered by photographer Ciaran McHugh, who understandably wanted to share it with the wider world. He explained to DailyEdge.ie:

It’s the mix of concern and threat to the hat that really stands out.

And the story duly went viral. Many Twitter users were deeply concerned by the apparent threat to the hat’s future:

And a campaign began.

However, there is bad news. After the UK edition of the Huffington Post tweeted the story, it was outed as a hoax.

Twitter user Alistair Coleman unearthed this story from a local newspaper in Britain, which the Sligo version reproduces almost word for word:

Bitterwallet Bitterwallet

It was actually an April Fool story printed by the Wetherby News in 2011, which got picked up and circulated worldwide.

So the bad news is, the story is a fake. The good news is, an innocent hat is NOT at risk.

God save bobble hats!

Pam loves pie Pam loves pie

UPDATE, 2.18pm: This important development to the story has now been brought to our attention. Please stand by for further bulletins.

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