Professor Richard Sinnott (UCD Geary Institute)James McBride (Irish Social Science Data Archive)

Eurobarometer 71.3

Source EB 62, 63, 66, 67.2, 68.1, 70.1, and 71.3Q How would you judge the current situation of the (NATIONALITY) economyNote This question was not asked in Autumn 2005 or Spring 2008

Figure 3 Positive evaluations of current economic situation in respondents own country, Ireland and EU average, 2004-09

Figure 4 Economic situation in own country ‘good’ by country, June 2009

Source EB 62, 63, 66, 67.2, 68.1, 70.1, and 71.3QA2a.1 How would you judge the current situation of the (NATIONALITY) economy

Figure 5 Evaluations of personal/household financial situation as good, Ireland and EU average, 2005-09

Source EB 63.4, 65, 67.2, 70.1, and 71.3EB63.4 – 67.2 Q How would you judge your current financial situation?EB 70.1 – 71.3 Q How would you judge the current financial situation of your household?Note The minor differences in question wording are assumed not to affect the comparability of the data

Figure 6 Evaluations of household financial situation as good by EU member state, June 2009

Source EB 71.3QA2a.5 How would you judge the current financial situation of your household?

Figure 8 Personal satisfaction with life by country, EU27 June 2009 (in descending order of 'very satisfied' and 'fairly satisfied' combined)

Source: EB73.1QA1 On the whole, are you very satisfied, fairly satisfied, not very satisfied or not at all satisfied with the life you lead?

Figure 9 Trends in support for European integration: Ireland and the EU 1973-2009

Source EB3 to EB71.3QA7a Taking everything into account, would you say that (OUR COUNTRY) has on balance benefited or not from being a member of the European Union? QA6b Generally speaking, do you think that (OUR COUNTRY)'s membership of the European Union is...?

Figure 12 Irish and European images of the European Union 2000-2009

Source EB65.2 to EB71.3QA10 In general, does the European Union conjure up for you a very positive, fairly positive, neutral, fairly negative or very negative image? Positive combines ‘very positive’ and ‘fairly positive’ ratings, Negative combines ‘very negative’ and ‘fairly negative’ ratings.

Figure 13 Positive image of the EU by country EU27: June 2009 (in descending order of positive image by country)

Source: EB71.3QA10 In general, does the European Union conjure up for you a very positive, fairly positive, neutral, fairly negative or very negative image?

Figure 16 Trust in European institutions and in national government, Ireland and EU average, 2004-09

Figure 17 Support for European policies, Ireland 2006-2009

Source EB61 to EB71.3QA15.3 What is your opinion on each of the following statements? Please tell me for each statement, whether you are for it or against it.

Figure 18 Feel more economically stable because of Euro membership by Eurozone country, June 2009

Source: EB71.3QA12a.2 Please tell me for each statement, whether you tend to agree or tend to disagree: I feel we are more stable economically because (OUR COUNTRY) is a member of the euro area

Figure 19 Influence of country’s voice in EU, Ireland and EU27 average, June 2009

Source: EB71.3QA12a.6 Please tell me for each statement, whether you tend to agree or tend to disagree: (OUR COUNTRY)’s voice counts in the EU

Figure 20 Sense of understanding how the EU works, Ireland and EU27 average, June 2009

Source: EB71.3QA12a.5 Please tell me for each statement, whether you tend to agree or tend to disagree: I understand how the European Union works

Table 1 Understanding of how the EU works by image of the EU, Ireland, June 2009

Qa12a_3:“I understand how the EU works”

Tend to agree Tend to disagree DK

Qa10: Positive / negative image of the EU

Very negative 0 9 1

Fairly negative 2 13 7

Neutral/DK 17 38 46

Fairly positive 56 35 37

Very positive 25 6 10

N 395 438 145

Source: EB71.3

Table 2 Multivariate analysis of Irish respondents’ negative image of the European Union, June 2009

Source: EB71.3

Constant 3.062***DemographicsFemale 0.115*Age 0.000Occupation (reference: Professional and Managerial)Houseperson 0.076Student -0.120Unemployed 0.412***Retired 0.191Farmer / Fisherman 0.146Self-employed 0.123Other employee 0.192*Manual worker 0.191*National attitudesThings in Ireland going in the wrong direction 0.126*Current household financial situation bad 0.120*Current national economic situation bad -0.066No trust in the Irish government -0.043European attitudesIreland more stable economically because of Eurozone membership -0.485***Trust in the European Union -0.373***Things in the EU going in the right direction -0.219***Understanding how the EU works -0.176**

Adjusted R² : 0.427Dependent variable: Image of the European Union (EB71.3, QA10)