A recent survey by a man in America has revealed that Tattyreagh children are the best behaved in the world but are also told the most lies by over-cautious parents. To back up his findings, Dr Zeus Valencia interviewed 120 Tattyreagh exiles who listed ‘white lies’ that have haunted them well into middle age.

Amongst the most effective were:

• If you swallow chewing gum you’ll fart bubbles
• If you misbehave, Santa will eat you
• If you aren’t in bed by 9pm, God will kidnap you
• If you don’t eat your crusts, you’ll be bald in the morning
• Mushy peas are chopped up lizards
• If you don’t come with me now, I’ll leave you here by yourself.
• Maybe tomorrow
• If you make faces and the wind changes you’ll stay like that.

Ciaran Kelly, a 46 year old forklift operator, maintains he’ll never shake off a few of the fears:

“My ma used to stop me from taking food from the fridge by claiming that there was an angry wee man in there who operated the light. Even now I’m tara afraid to open it, 40 years later. Last week I didn’t eat for three days. Then there’s the one where my da would say if I didn’t shut up he’d tell ‘the man’. I wake up in tears sometimes thinking the man is outside the house. It’s a nightmare life I lead. Tattyreagh must change.”

Jane Hurson, who left Tattyreagh for Seskinore in 1987, claims she has even passed down some of the lies to her own children:

“I feel so ashamed. Yesterday I told my daughter the one about the ice cream van –  if it plays music that means it has run out of ice cream. It’s like a disease we have. I went straight to confessions and doubled the penance. Next I’ll be telling her the Brits took our dog instead of just saying it died. I need help. Please.”

The Tattyreagh Parents’ Society released a statement today saying the report was ‘a load of balls’ and ‘pure lies’. They added that ‘we all know God cries when someone lies’, predicting heavy rain all week.