A NEW SURVEY carried out on behalf of a new RTÉ gameshow which begins tonight has found that 40 per cent of respondents admit to having been unfaithful in a relationship. (Not in Connaught though – that’s Ireland’s ‘most faithful’ province, apparently).

The nationwide survey was carried out by MillwardBrownLansdowne for the series Who Knows Ireland Best? On the opposite side of infidelity, 41 per cent of people surveyed admitted secretly checking their partner’s email or text messages. Text messages can be a real relationship blocker it seems – 14 per cent of those surveyed said they have ended a relationship via text.

However, cheated partners can take some comfort in a higher figure than their other half – the survey also throws up the fact that seven out of 10 of respondents believe in God. (The survey says 41 per cent of people believe in ghosts). And if all should go to plan and a marriage hovers into view, it turns out that at least one third of people (34 per cent) are traditional types and believe that a man should ask his girlfriend’s father permission before proposing to her.

The show, hosted by Derek Mooney, is to examine Irish attitudes to questions like these. Points are awarded to contestants if their answers to the questions are close to the majority attitude of the country. RTÉ Entertaiment Commissioning Editor Bill Malon said the show “is a fun and entertaining look into the habits, minds and morals of Ireland today”.

You can play along, if you are so minded, on a free app that can be downloaded from the App Store and the Android Market. It’s not an interactive app but allows you to play the game in your own time.

Some of the other random facts to come out of the survey carried out for the show include:

• Only 49 per cent of Irish people surveyed said they passed their driving test first-time round
• 26 per cent can’t change a car tyre
• 12 per cent haven’t read a book in the last year
• 60 per cent admit to have pulled a ‘sickie’ from work

Who Knows Ireland Best? begins tonight on RTÉ One at 8.30pm