UKRAINE: A PRICE WORTH PAYING
Almost half say higher prices worth it to win war
NEARLY 50% of the Irish public still believe that paying higher prices for food and energy is a ‘price worth paying’ in the fight for Ukraine.
Food and energy prices have soared since the outset of the war as Ukraine’s grain was withheld from leaving the country while sanctions were placed on Russia and Russian gas.
An Amárach Research poll for the Irish Daily Mail found that the cost-of-living crisis has affected attitudes towards the war in Ukraine.
In February 2022, 70% of Irish people agreed that higher food and energy prices as a result of sanctions was ‘a price worth paying’
Hesitancy about escalating the war
but this has fallen to 48% today.
Older people are much more likely to favour supporting Ukraine despite the cost impact to them compared to younger people.
Of those aged 55 and older, 62% believed it was a price worth paying, compared with 44% of 45 to 54-year-olds, 43% of 35 to 44-yearolds and just 35% of under 35s.
Geographically people in Connacht/Ulster are least likely to believe it is a cost worth bearing, with just 39% agreeing. This compares with 50% in both Dublin and Munster. Support in Leinster, excluding Dublin, was 44%.
This is despite younger people being more likely to know someone from Ukraine or Russia now living in Ireland, with more than a quarter (26%) of under-35s saying they do. This compares with 21% of over-55s.
The influx of Ukrainian refugees to Ireland now means that 22% of Irish adults personally knows someone from Ukraine who is living in Ireland, up from 12% two years ago.
People from Leinster, when Dublin is excluded, were most likely (27%) to know someone from Ukraine. The least likely geographical area to know someone from Ukraine was Dublin and Connacht/Ulster (19%).
The nation’s enthusiasm to contribute to European defence has also waned, with 39% saying that they would support Ireland joining a European joint defence force if one was created, down from 48% in February 2022.
There is also a hesitancy among the public about escalating the war, with 44% supporting Nato troops entering Ukraine to counter the Russian invasion, down from 57% two years ago.
Ukrainians are granted special status here under the EU Temporary Protection Order, which entitles them to free accommodation, full rate social welfare payments and the right to work immediately. However, amid increased pressure on services and the system the Cabinet agreed in December to cut the level of social welfare payments from €232 to €38.80 a week. They also imposed a 90-day limit on providing temporary accommodation in a bid to reduce the numbers arriving here. The changes only apply to new arrivals from Ukraine.
The poll found that more than three quarters of Irish people (78%) want Ireland to hold on to its status as a neutral country, an increase of 2% since the question was asked at the outset of the war.
Attitudes towards paying more for defence also remain unchanged with just 27% of people wanting to pay more tax for defence now.
Asked about what they would do if a war broke out in Ireland the most popular response (36%) was to do whatever is possible to avoid fighting for my country. This compares to 30% in the UK.
Fewer than one in five (18%) Irish people would ‘willingly fight for my country’ in the event of an outbreak of war.
This number again plummets among the younger cohort with just 14% of those under 35 willing to do so.
Again there is a clear trend among the age cohorts with those who are older more likely to be willing to fight for their country, with 22% of those aged over 55 indicating they would be willing to do so.