A survey of 400 young Irish professionals indicates that 25% of such people have a "very favorable" impression of the US and a further 54% have a "mainly favorable" impression. Only a small portion of Irish young professionals has a "mainly unfavorable" (6%) or "very unfavorable" (2%) impression of the US.
This survey is counter to what I probably believed about this bloc of Irish public opinion.
The appendices have more information, including a similar question asked of 1200 randomly selected people in Ireland. The results are similar.
There was also some bad news for Irish europhiles. 73% of the survey group believes Ireland is closer (economically, socially, culturally) to Boston than Berlin. Only 16% expressed the opposite view (11% said neutral). This was much higher than the group's view of the UK (41% Boston - 33% Berlin).
The report deals mainly with Irish attitudes towards Britain and was featured in a few newspaper articles this morning. (see here and here for more). The surveys were conducted last August & September.
