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Tue, 17 Sep, 2024 - 09:36

Paul Hosford

Fewer than half of rural voters see immigration as a deciding factor in the way they will vote in the next general election, with health, housing, and the cost of living all considered more important.

An Irish Examiner/Ipsos poll of people living in rural Ireland found that the cost of living is the most important issue for voters, with 68% saying it will be "very influential" on their next vote, and 22% describing it as "somewhat influential".

On the health service, 64% of people said this will be 'very influential' to their vote while the figure for housing is 58%.

Despite immigration making headlines and dominating political discussion over the last year, fewer than half of people (42%) say it will be a ‘very influential’ factor when voting, 30% say it is somewhat influential while 16% of people say it is of ‘minimal importance’.

For 11% of respondents, it is not considered important at all.

When asked to rank the issues in order of importance to their vote in the next general election, just 9% pinpointed immigration as the key concern, with 34% choosing the cost of living, 19% choosing housing and 17% choosing the health service.

On immigration, two thirds of people in rural Ireland feel the Government is not doing a good job handling the number of asylum seekers entering the country, while just under half say they would object to an International Protection Centre opening near them.

However, this changes when the question specifically refers to the opening of a centre for Ukrainian refugees.

Asked about this, just over a third would object to such a centre opening nearby while half of people would have no objections.

Nonetheless, there is a near-universal view (5 out of 6) that local communities should have the right to protest about the location or opening of International Protection Centres.

The attitude towards the Government response to immigration was largely critical, with just 5% strongly agreeing that a good job has been done in handling the number of asylum seekers coming to Ireland, with a further 16% somewhat accepting of the Government’s response.

However, 47% of people 'strongly disagree' that the government has handled immigration appropriately, and a further 18% 'somewhat disagree'.

The majority of people (66%) also feel that rural towns and villages have taken a disproportionate share of asylum seekers.

There is slightly greater support for the Garda policing of anti-migrant protestors, with 41% feeling they have done this well and 33% disagreeing.

Nearly two-thirds of people (63%) in rural Ireland say they are concerned about the rise of the far right.

Elsewhere, the poll shows a divided picture when it comes to rural attitudes to climate change, with 43% feeling the Government is doing enough to tackle it and 38% disagreeing.

A quarter of people feel that farmers contribute negatively to climate change but 60% disagree with this sentiment, with most people not prepared to pay more taxes or levies to reduce carbon emissions.

Despite this, more than two-thirds (67%) of respondents are worried about the potential impacts of climate change.

Ultimately, about one person in every six say they don’t believe in climate change although the vast majority (73%) do.

Just a fifth of people living in rural areas say they would consider "going electric" the next time they purchase a car.

To what extent will the following issues influence how you vote in the coming election?