The mirror and the lamp : public opinion in the Republic of Ireland since 1970

THESIS 7892This Ph.D. thesis examines what public opinion polls undertaken in the Republic of Ireland tell us about public opinion. The main source of data used in this research is media commissioned opinion polls that have been undertaken on behalf of The Irish Times and Independent Newspapers Ltd. by Irish Marketing Services (IMS), Lansdowne Market Research and the Market Research Bureau of Ireland (MRBI). Between 1970 and 2005 there have been over three hundred polls. Until now there has been no single study of what Irish opinion polls tell us about public opinion over the last three decades. In this respect, this dissertation represents the first academic book length treatment of public opinion in the Republic of Ireland