Sharp division over future of Ireland’s Covid-19 restrictions, poll shows

There is sharp division over the future of Covid-19 restrictions, with the country split down the middle on the reintroduction of masks and on any future restrictions.

The latest Irish Times/Ipsos opinion poll shows that there is overwhelming support for the idea that Ireland "will have to learn to live with Covid", with 95 per cent of respondents saying they agreed with the statement. But there is significant division on what this actually means.

There is broad consensus, however, that the Government has handled the pandemic well.

Asked if they agreed or disagreed that the Government “had done a good job on Covid”, four out of five voters (80 per cent) said the Government had done a good job. Even among Sinn Féin voters, 70 per cent said the Government had done a good job.

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Respondents were asked if they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements relating to Covid. Over half (53 per cent) agreed that “the Government should consider reintroducing Covid restrictions such as mask wearing to deal with the current wave of infections”, with 43 per cent disagreeing.

The proportion – 43 per cent – agreed with the statement “there should never be a return to Covid restrictions”, with 51 per cent disagreeing.

On the question of whether respondents were still worried about Covid, the split is also evident.

Oppose restrictions

Asked if they agreed or disagreed with the statement, “I am still personally worried about Covid”, 45 per cent said they agreed and 53 per cent disagreed.

Much of the division can be traced along age lines – younger voters are much more likely to oppose restrictions, older voters are more likely to be worried about Covid.

Just 36 per cent of the youngest voters (aged 18-24) say the Government should consider reintroducing masks, while 73 per cent of the oldest voters (those aged 65 and over) are in favour of the measure.

Asked if they were still personally worried about Covid, just 30 per cent of 18- to 24 year-olds said they were, while 65 per cent of the over-65s agreed that they were worried. Just a third (33 per cent) of the oldest voters said they weren’t worried; for the youngest voters, the figure was 68 per cent.

In the middle age groups, the split is much nearer to 50:50.

Among 35- to 49 year-olds, 44 per cent say they are still worried, while 56 per cent say they are not worried. In the next group up, the 50-65 year-olds, 48 per cent say they are worried, while 50 per cent say they are not.

The poll was conducted among 1,200 adults at 120 sampling points across all constituencies on April 11th and 12th. Respondents were interviewed at their own homes. The accuracy is estimated at plus or minus 2.8 per cent.