Get all the very latest news in Ireland straight to your email every single day Sign up! Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Nearly half of Irish adults think immigration here is a big problem, a survey has revealed.

Insights firm iReach ran a survey of 1,000 people between January 26 and February 2 and it found that some 47% think it is an issue to be tackled.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries on January 27 for 90 days, and suspending refugee admission for 120 days.

And when asked “what impact do you think immigration has on Irish society?”m 29% of us think immigration has a positive impact.

17% think there is a negative impact, 47% think there are both positive and negative aspects, and 7% think there is no impact on Irish society.

Of those who think immigration is positive, 92% think it makes us more culturally diverse, while 71% think there's an influx of young people and 62% think jobs and skill gaps can be filled.

45% think it is positive because it gives the economy a boost and 38% think it increases innovation [26% male, 52% female].

Of those who answered that immigration has a negative impact on Irish society, 71% believe crime and corruption increases, 57% think it is negative because the increase in population could put pressure on public services [48% male, 66% female], and 45% think it negatively impacts the economy.

27% of these respondents think immigrants pose a threat to the Irish society in terms of taking away jobs from people in Ireland, 59% think they pose a threat because of using public benefits (such as health care or child benefits) and 36% think that immigrants pose a threat because of physical aggressiveness towards others.

When asked “Do you thing that the Irish government should restrain the inflow of immigrants”, 44% think they should, 36% think that the government shouldn’t and 20% are unsure about restraining the inflow of immigrants.