Irish Public Opinion toward European Integration

Conventional wisdom suggests that Irish people tend to be very positive about the European Union. However, the reality of Irish opinion is more nuanced. Using individual level data (Eurobarometer 61), we examine whether or not the factors that are held to shape opinion toward European integration have similar influences on differing aspects of opinion toward integration: (1) an affective orientation to EU membership and (2) items that embody European integration. A second contribution of this paper is that while we consider a number of familiar explanations of opinion toward European integration (i.e. utilitarianism, identity, evaluations of institutions, political knowledge), we also examine the influence of attitudes to globalisation on opinion. Our results show that opinion toward European integration is not a single entity but a complex set of opinions. To understand opinion toward integration, it is important to consider a wide range of characteristics of the European project.