A SURVEY OF European states has found that more Irish people wish to retain the euro than leave it. And more than that, the number of us who want to stay in the eurozone is higher than the European average in favour of keeping the euro.

The latest Eurobarometer report – which takes the measure of how citizens feel about the EU and related issues – found that two-thirds of Irish people 67 per cent) were in favour of keeping the euro. The European average in favour of the euro is 53 per cent – this is pretty much unchanged from the last survey in spring 2012; but the number of Irish people in favour has actually dropped by 12 per cent.

Other telling findings in the survey include:

• Ireland’s biggest worry is unemployment (65 per cent of us said it was our primary concern), followed by the economic situation (43 per cent) and Government debt (21 per cent).
• Just 8 per cent believe that the situation our economy is currently at is ‘good’; 91 per cent believe it is ‘bad’ and 1 per cent cited ‘don’t know’.
• The average level of trust in the European Union has risen by 2 per cent to 33 per cent (and the average European still trusts the EU more than they trust their national governments or parliaments) – but Irish respondents were less trusting. Only 29 per cent have faith in the EU and this is a 3 per cent drop in trust since the last survey in May.
• A majority of Irish people believe that the worst is still to come in the jobs crisis (53 per cent). Only 38 per cent believe that the impact of the economic crisis on jobs has reached a peak. We’re not as pessimistic about the jobs crisis as some other countries though – 78 per cent in Belgium and Greece, 79 per cent in Portugal and 88 per cent in Cyprus believe that the worst is yet to come.

Read the full survey results here>

Read a deep-dive analysis of the survey here>