THERE IS “NO evidence” of a link between negative attitudes towards immigration and pressure on local services in a community, according to a new study.

However, broader economic and social policies, and factors such as disadvantage and segregation, play a “key role” in social cohesion and attitudes towards immigration.

The findings are part of research published by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) which is investigating attitudes around immigration at a community level.

Overall it has found some importance in “social contact with migrants for fostering more positive attitudes” towards immigration in communities.

“While some communities perceive immigration more negatively than others, positive social contact can play a key role in improving attitudes and therefore social cohesion,” the ESRI said.

“The findings about pressure on services indicate that it may not be direct local experiences that impact attitudes, but may instead be concern about pressure on services in Ireland as a whole.”

It added that the findings have important implications for policies aimed at improving migrant integration.

The study is based on a representative survey of adults in Ireland looking at views on immigration, conducted in April 2023, matched with Census 2022 and additional data on the communities they live in.

An earlier ESRI report found that education, financial strain and optimism about the future were factors related to attitudes towards immigration.

As part of the research it looked at whether people living in areas with greater pressure on services like health, housing and education held more negative attitudes towards immigration.

Using indicators such as the number of GPs per household and housing affordability, high rents and high house prices, it has found “no evidence of a link”, the ESRI said.

The share of migrants in a community were not linked with attitudes towards immigration in Ireland overall, the study added.

However, people living in more disadvantaged communities had “more negative attitudes” towards immigration, in particular, disadvantaged communities where there was an increase in migrants since 2011.

Living in a rural area was associated with more negative attitudes towards immigration, compared with living in an urban area, but this differed if the rural area had a high percentage of migrants in the community. In that case, had attitudes toward immigration that were “very similar” to those in urban areas.

“This may reflect the importance of social contact with migrants for fostering more positive attitudes,” the ESRI said.

Attitudes to immigration were also “not related to the proportion of Ukrainian refugees” in people’s local area.

“Surprisingly, the proportion of asylum seekers in the community is linked to more positive attitudes to immigration overall, though only a small number of respondents had asylum seekers living in their local area,” the study added.