German/Irish attitudes to each other examined

[odlum833]

In the first in a series of polls and articles examining what Irish people think of Germany and what Germans think of Ireland for the Irish Times:

Germans hold better opinion of Ireland than other EU bailout states




German chancellor Angela Merkel chats with German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble at the Chancellery. A new poll has found a big majority of Irish people believed Germany was doing at least enough to protect the euro zone.


Germans are much more favourably disposed to Ireland than to any of the other EU bailout countries, according to a poll carried out for The Irish Times in both countries.

The poll found a big majority of Irish people believed Germany was doing at least enough to protect the euro zone.

The unique poll was carried out by Ipsos MRBI in Germany and Ireland by telephone earlier this month. It was conducted against the background of the ongoing euro zone crisis and the pivotal role Germany will play in determining if Ireland will get further relief on its banking debt. The poll was carried out among a representative sample of 1,000 people in each country.

German respondents had a broadly positive attitude to Ireland, with just 3 per cent of them wanting us out of the EU and a majority believing Irish people worked longer hours than they do.

Asked to assess how Germany was responding to the euro zone crisis, 52 per cent of Germans said their country was doing too much; 36 per cent said they were doing just enough, 6 per cent said not enough and 6 per cent had no opinion.

On the bailout countries, 46 per cent of Germans felt Ireland was trying hard to fix its economy, 23 per cent said we should try harder and the remainder had no opinion.

By contrast, 13 per cent of Germans felt Greece was trying hard, 78 per cent felt it should try harder and 9 per cent had no opinion.

The other two bailout countries came in between. On Portugal, 32 per cent of Germans said the country was trying hard, 45 per cent said it should try harder and 23 per cent had no opinion. On Spain, 31 per cent said it was trying hard, 56 per cent said it should try harder and 13 per cent had no opinion.

Asked which, if any, of the bailout countries they felt should leave the European Union, 3 per cent said Ireland, 5 per cent said Portugal and Spain and 42 per cent said Greece.

A total of 49 per cent of German respondents said none of the bailout countries should leave the EU, while 8 per cent had no opinion.

Asked a series of questions on how they compared Ireland to Germany, 86 per cent felt Germany had a stronger economy. However, 38 per cent felt Irish people worked longer hours compared to 32 per cent who felt Germans worked longer hours, while 14 per cent believed both nationalities worked the same hours.

The poll forms part of an Irish Times series which begins today examining the unique relationship between Ireland and Germany. The series, which also runs next week examines how the two countries have become entwined like never before.

On the issue of tax, 45 per cent felt Ireland had lower taxes for workers while 11 per cent said Germany had lower taxes, while 12 per cent thought they were the same.

There was a similar view of taxes on business, with 47 per cent saying they were lower in Ireland, 11 per cent saying they were lower in Germany and 10 per cent the same.

On public sector salaries, 37 per cent felt they were higher in Germany, 18 per cent said they were higher in Ireland and 13 per cent said they were equal.

When the same questions were asked of Irish people, the response was similar on a number of issues.

Asked to assess the German response to the euro crisis, 44 per cent of Irish respondents said it was doing just enough, 20 per cent said it was being asked to do too much, 24 per cent said not enough and 11 per cent did not know.

On the performance of bailout states, 64 per cent said Ireland was trying hard while 35 per cent said we should be trying harder. Just 1 per cent had no opinion.

On Greece, 24 per cent of Irish people said it was trying hard and 69 per cent said it should try harder.

On Portugal, 40 per cent said it was trying hard and 41 per cent said it should try harder. On Spain, 38 per cent said it was trying hard and 51 per cent said it should try harder.

On whether any of these states should leave the EU, 34 per cent said Greece, 9 per cent Ireland, 5 per cent Portugal, 4 per cent Spain and 51 per cent said none should leave.

In further comments in today's paper:

Germans still positive on Ireland despite euro zone crisis

STEPHEN COLLINS, Political Editor

OPINION POLL: Most Irish people believe EU’s largest and most powerful state is doing what it can for euro zone

THE REMARKABLE feature of the Irish Times poll on German/ Irish attitudes is just how well the relationship between the states has survived the euro zone crisis.

It appears a substantial majority of Germans have retained a positive view of Ireland despite the fact that they believe they are being asked to do too much for the euro zone.


...

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...0.html?via=rel

And further comment

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...322949298.html


Very interesting. It appears despite the crisis we really like Germany and they like us. Funny you would not think so listening to certain commentators! I think the results of various polls will be released in the coming days. Be interesting to see those results.

[Boba Fett22]

Maybe you're right.

However I never take polls too seriously. I don't mean that to seem rude. For a country of 80 million people they only interviewed 1000.

I would hazard a guess that most German people don't give any part of Ireland, including Northern Ireland, a second thought.

[Onoudidnt]

Well in my experience I would say the opposite (I lived in Berlin for 4 years). Germans do have a high regard for Ireland, and a surprising amount take interest in what goes on here. I guess it's because they still see it as the Ireland from the movies (there's a popular long running soap opera over there set in rural Ireland) with leprechauns and that sorta stuff

[odlum833]

Originally Posted by Onoudidnt

(there's a popular long running soap opera over there set in rural Ireland)

I was going to ask about this. What's the story here? I have heard there is some culchie show they take a liking to. In the Irish Times it says millions of Germans watch this show. Is it the German Father Ted or what?

[Catmalojin]

Originally Posted by odlum833

I was going to ask about this. What's the story here? I have heard there is some culchie show they take a liking to. In the Irish Times it says millions of Germans watch this show. Is it the German Father Ted or what?

It's called Unsere Farm in Irland ("Our Farm in Ireland") and seems to be a pretty big deal alright (German Wikipedia page with ratings)!

Great to see that most people still have a positive view of Germany here, despite the amount of anti-German rhetoric from certain quarters. Likewise it's great to see that Germany has a generally favourable view of us too, especially comapared with Greece or even Portugal and Spain.

[thebig C]

At first the findings might seem surprising but it probably is reflective of what ordinary people think.

In general the anti-EU/anti-German rhetoric only eminates from a small proportion of (very vocal) journalists and a majority of online posters, who time and again have been proven to be not reflective of the general population. For example, online polls on politics.ie produced huge majorities against the Fiscal Treaty and huge majorities in favour of Martin Mcguinness as President!!!

C

[odlum833]

Originally Posted by Catmalojin

It's called Unsere Farm in Irland ("Our Farm in Ireland") and seems to be a pretty big deal alright (German Wikipedia page with ratings)!

Great to see that most people still have a positive view of Germany here, despite the amount of anti-German rhetoric from certain quarters. Likewise it's great to see that Germany has a generally favourable view of us too, especially comapared with Greece or even Portugal and Spain.

Here is a clip - reminds me of Glenroe or something like that

[odlum833]

Germans buttered up to view Ireland as rural idyll, poll finds




GERMANS OVERWHELMINGLY think of Ireland in terms of green countryside even though only a small proportion of them have ever visited this country, according to a special Irish Times Ipsos MRBI poll conducted in both countries.

Pubs and alcohol come far behind in second place to the idyllic rural image a majority of Germans have of this country.

The other side of the equation is that Irish people think primarily of Germany as efficient, hard-working and clean with a well-run economy...

...Just 9 per cent of Germans have ever visited Ireland while 11 per cent say they have plans to do so in the next two years. By contrast 42 per cent of Irish people say they have visited Germany. This figure appears very high but reflects that Germany is such a big country by comparison and is a popular venue for breaks...

..The Irish view of Germany is dominated by images of efficiency and hard work, which were cited by 22 per cent as coming to mind..

...Angela Merkel was cited by 11 per cent of Irish people as coming to mind when they thought of Germany. This finding demonstrates the powerful impact the German chancellor has had on the perception of her country...

Just 7 per cent cited Hitler and the Nazis as being things that come to mind in the context of Germany. Working-class Irish people were much more inclined to cite this aspect of Germany compared to middle class people.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...323033742.html

[Onoudidnt]

That's the show! My German isn't what it used to be, but my; It was woeful.