NEARLY A THIRD of people in Ireland would confront or try to restrain an intruder in their home but more would play it safe and hide before calling the Gardaí, according to a new survey.

An AA Home Insurance poll of over 13,000 people has gauged the lengths which people will go to protect their homes with 31 per cent of respondents saying they would confront or attempt to restrain a burglar.

Nearly 19 per cent of respondents said the would square up to a burglar demanding they get out of their house while 12.5 per cent said they would restrain a thief.

Seventy-three respondents even said they would shoot or kill an armed intruder to keep their family safe if the situation justified it.

Just under forty per cent said they would play it safe and hide before calling the Gardaí.

Women are far less prepared to confront a burglar which the AA says is “no real surprise”.

Just over 6 per cent of women said they would order a burglar to get out of their house compared to 27.7 per cent of men. Just over two per cent of women said they would hold down an intruder compared to nearly 20 per cent of men.

On a county-by-county basis, the survey found that those most likely to confront a burglar are in Carlow (29.1 per cent), Leitrim (27.3 per cent) and Mayo (23.5 per cent).

The most likely to attempt to restrain an intruder were in Cavan (19.6 per cent), Louth (19.5 per cent) and Laois (18.5 per cent) whilst those from Dublin (10.7 per cent), Clare (10.9 per cent) and Kildare (10.9 per cent) are least likely tackle a burglar.

The AA advises that people develop good security habits for their home including locking all windows and doors, alarming your home before you leave or go to bed, having a phone beside  your bed in case of an emergency, not hiding your keys anywhere obvious, and not to become complacent.