24/06/2008

No Voters Are Pro-Europe Says Survey

A recent poll has revealed despite the rejection of the Lisbon referendum, the Irish public are the EU's biggest fans.

The findings, based on work conducted before the referendum vote, show Ireland appreciates the benefits of EU membership more than any other nation.

The findings are in line with a snap poll of 2,000 Irish voters conducted immediately after the referendum decision.

The snap poll showed that 80% of those voting 'No' were in favour of the EU.

A similar poll conducted by the European Commission during the spring of 2008, called the Eurobarometer, found that the most positive opinions on the EU were recorded in Romania with 67% and Ireland with 65%. The research also found overall, 50% of EU citizens tend to trust the European Union compared to only 32% trusting their own government and 34% their national Parliament.

Foreign Minister Micheal Martin told reporters that the No campaigners were "pro-Europe and pro-European Union".

The survey shows that 82% of Irish people believe their country has benefited from EU membership, a 5% drop since the last survey, but still higher than anywhere else in the EU.

(DW/JM)

Related Irish News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

04 December 2014
FG And Labour Ratings Slump
Fine Gael and Labour's ratings have significantly dropped, while independents and smaller parties have won substantial increases, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll. Fine Gael have dropped 5 percentage points to 19%, while Labour's approval has fallen 3 points to 6%.
07 February 2008
Ombudsman's Concern At Limited Children's Referendum
The Ombudsman for Children has said she is opposed to holding a limited referendum dealing only with child protection, which may run on the same day as the Lisbon Treaty referendum. Emily Logan said she did not support the calls to hold two separate referendums on children's rights and child protection.
01 June 2009
Lisbon Treaty Now Has Support Of 66%
The Lisbon Treaty would be passed if a second referendum were taken this week, according to a new poll. The Irish Times /TNS mrbi poll suggests there is now solid support for the Lisbon Treaty, with up to 66% claiming they would support ratification of the much discussed document that would give greater powers to the EU.
14 June 2013
Seanad Abolition Bill Published
Details of the governments proposal to abolish the Seanad have been published. 40 amendments, which will remove all references to the upper house, to the Constitution are included in the new the 32nd Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill.
05 November 2007
Little Support For EU Treaty
Just a quarter of Irish citizens would support the EU Reform Treaty - a lower figure than that for the earlier failed EU Constitution.