And finally… Seuss-pect

The images, which circulated on Facebook, appeared to show the Dr Seuss character lurking in streets and driveways in locations including Limerick, Cork, Tipperary, Wexford and Dublin.

A spokesperson for Wexford Garda said: “In an unusual turn of events we are hearing a lot about an illusive Dr Seuss character doing the rounds online, apparently causing havoc in neighbourhoods and towns across the country.

“Fortunately, we can rule out the issue, which is essentially an AI prompt that places the character into images/videos of familiar places. To be clear, the Cat in the Hat was not in your driveway while you were out and he is not currently hiding out in Curracloe.”

The hoax follows similar AI-generated pranks that have previously prompted emergency calls to police in the UK.