A MAJORITY of Irish people believe most of our current emigrants will not return to live in this country, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll.
Asked if they believed the current wave of emigration was temporary or that emigrants would never return, 59 per cent believed the emigrants would never return, 33 per cent believed they would and 8 per cent had no opinion.
There were significant differences across the social classes, with those in the better-off A and B categories more optimistic that the emigration was temporary.
People in the less well-off social categories tended more to the view that emigration was permanent. There was no great difference in the views in different age groups, with a clear majority across the board taking the view that emigration was permanent.
However, there were some significant regional variations. People living in Connacht/Ulster were much more inclined to believe emigration was temporary.
People in Munster were the most inclined to take the opposite view, with those in Dublin and the rest of Leinster in between.
Given that Connacht/Ulster is the region that has traditionally experienced most emigration it is arguable that people there have more knowledge about the long-term impact of the phenomenon.
Fianna Fáil voters were the most optimistic about the return of emigrants, with Fine Gael supporters not far behind. By contrast Sinn Féin voters were easily the most pessimistic, followed by Independent and Labour supporters.
When the figures are broken down by intention to vote in the presidential election, those backing Michael D Higgins, Dana Rosemary Scallon, Gay Mitchell and David Norris are most optimistic.
Those planning to vote for Martin McGuinness are the least optimistic about the return of emigrants followed by Mary Davis and Seán Gallagher voters.
The poll was taken on Monday and Tuesday of last week among a representative sample of 1,000 voters aged 18 and over, in face-to-face interviews at 100 sampling points in all 43 constituencies. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 per cent.