‘I’LL BE THERE in a minute’, it’s a phrase that we hear (or say) practically everyday, but how long is that ‘minute’ actually going to be?

A survey carried out by EBS questioned 1,000 people across the country in a bid to find out just how long the ‘Irish minute’ really is.

While 4 minutes and 59 seconds came out as the official ‘Irish minute’, the term had a different length from county to county, with Leitrim coming in the shortest at 2 minutes 52 seconds and Carlow the longest at 11 minutes and 30 seconds.

EBS Survey EBS Survey

The survey also revealed that 31% of us also tell fibs when we’re running late with the words ‘I’m in the taxi’ proving to be a popular delaying technique.

What we actually mean is ‘I haven’t left yet’,  ’I'm still ages away’ or, worryingly enough in some cases, ‘I totally forgot’.

Younger people were the most reliable on this front with 79% of 21-24 years olds saying they are actually in the taxi when they say they’re in it.

However, the same can’t be said for 4% of 30-35 year olds who admitted they’ve said they are in the taxi when in fact they forgot about the meeting altogether.

‘Let’s meet up soon’

The survey also found that a third of us (29%) are lying when we say ‘let’s meet up soon’ and we really mean ‘never’.

Just 38% of us will remain true to our word and aim to meet within the next month.

The EBS ‘Big Survey of Irish Time’ surveyed over 1,000 people across the country.

Read: You’ll only understand this wild emotional ride if you are constantly late>