Irish people hugely in favour of remaining in EU, new report reveals

Support for remaining a member has increased continuously since 2013.

Ireland is overwhelmingly in favour of remaining in the European Union, a new report has found. According to its annual survey on Irish attitudes to the EU, European Movement Ireland and Red C also found that Ireland was in agreement that Brexit was a mistake, although they are torn over its consequences for the border. Surveying 1,000 Irish people in total, 92% of respondents said that they believe Ireland should remain in the EU (an increase of 4% since 2017), while 73% felt that the UK should remain in both the EU Single Market and Customs Union. Among farmers, this belief rose to 83%. Respondents were split on the repercussions of Brexit nationally, since 44% agreed that it could result in a united Ireland, while the other 44% disagreed and a further 12% said that they were not sure. People under the age of 35 (54%) were more likely to favour the belief that a united Ireland was a possibility than those over 35 (39%). Here are some of the other key findings from the survey:

• Dublin had the highest level of support for Ireland remaining in the EU (96%), while Ulster/Connacht had the lowest (89%).
• 59% of respondents think Ireland should be part of increased EU defence and security co-operation, with the highest level of support coming from Dublin respondents (66%), while Ulster/Connacht had the lowest (52%).
• 87% believe that Ireland has on balance benefited from being an EU state member.
• 58% think Ireland should contribute more to the EU budget to continue receiving these benefits, with the highest level of support coming from Dublin (60%).
• 87% disagree with the idea of leaving the EU given that the UK has voted to leave.
• 92% of respondents agreed that it is important that Irish people input into the Future of Europe debate.

Commenting on the findings, Noelle O Connell, Executive Director of EM Ireland says: "People are very clear that leaving the EU would not be in Ireland’s interests. However, there is understandable uncertainty about what changes Brexit will bring to Ireland, the border and the Ireland-UK trade relationship in the long term. "Contrary to recent claims, at 92% support for Ireland’s membership of the EU remains strong; in fact it is at an all-time high since we first undertook this poll in 2013."   The full results of the survey can be seen here.