It is now only 37 days until Christmas Eve.
33% of Irish people have said that they will have the same Christmas they always have, regardless of what safety restrictions are in place come the festive season.
Meanwhile, over half of Irish people (56%), say Christmas this year won’t be as enjoyable as it was in previous years.
The figures come from a Red C poll, carried out in conjunction with bonkers.ie, which also uncovered a number of financial findings ahead of Christmas in Ireland this year. The poll was conducted in mid-October, before Level 5 restrictions came into effect throughout the country.
According to the survey, 43% of people will be spending less on gifts this year due to the pandemic.
The research, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of just over 1,000 adults in the Republic of Ireland, shows that one third of people (33%) say Covid-19 has had little to no impact on their personal finances, while just over one in three (36%) say it has had a moderate to severe financial impact on them.
Breaking the figures down further, almost one in five Irish people (19%) say the pandemic has had no impact whatsoever on their personal finances, while at the other end of the scale, 7% of people say it has had a severe financial impact on them.
Speaking about the results of the poll, Daragh Cassidy, Head of Communications at bonkers.ie said that people’s plans to spend Christmas as normal this year, regardless of restrictions, “will no doubt worry NPHET”.
On what the survey revealed about the impact of the pandemic on people’s personal finances, Cassidy added: “The research gives us some insight into the financial impact of Covid on people’s finances as we reach the eight-month anniversary of official restrictions.
“It’s clear that a big percentage of the population remains largely unimpacted financially by Covid, which is encouraging, although one would wonder if this can hold up the longer the pandemic goes on.
“However there is a significant minority of people who are clearly struggling and the return to level 5 lockdown in mid-October is unlikely to have helped.”
Speaking on Monday evening, Ronan Glynn said that it’s impossible to know whether Level 5 restrictions will definitely be lifted in Ireland as is scheduled on 1 December.
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