Most Irish people remain positive about the future and continue to be staunchly pro-EU, according to polling carried out for the European Parliament.
The latest ‘Eurobarometer‘ involved face to face interviews with more than 26,000 people, of which one thousand were in Ireland last November.
At that time, the news was dominated by the war in Gaza, Ukraine and US military strikes on alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean.
There were also concerns about drone sightings in and around European airports and military installations.
No wonder then that polling suggests that Europeans and Irish people want the EU to focus on security and defence as a top priority, ahead of the economy and the environment.
That matches the strategy of European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, who has switched her focus from the Green Deal to security.
Doing so has not been without its critics.
Environmental groups warn that watering down green targets is short term thinking.
But there is also a lot of support for the EU’s security plan which involves investing €800 billion in new defence over the next years.
“At a time of heightened geopolitical tensions, citizens are increasingly anxious about their future and want the EU to act with unity and ambition”, the European Parliament says, reacting to the poll.
But people in Ireland remain more positive about the future than other Europeans.
More than three-quarters of people polled in Ireland were optimistic about the future of the European Union, compared to an average of 55 percent across the EU.
Two-thirds of people polled in Ireland said the EU conjures up a positive image for them compared to 49 percent Europe-wide.