Almost half of Irish people do not trust the government to tell the truth, study finds

53% of people said they feel the government ignores them.

A study has found that almost half of Irish people do not trust the current government to be honest. Research conducted by UCD, as part of its European Commission Horizon 2020 project,  found that 48% of people do not trust the Government to tell the truth. Meanwhile, 58% of those asked said they think the Government communicates inaccurate and biased information. Others said that they are unsure whether to believe the Government (54%), they think the Government ignores rules and procedures (45%) , and other said they feel the Government ignores the public (53%). The data comes from a survey of over 12,000 people across six countries. Results show that the Irish public's view of their Government is much more negative than several other European countries. However, UK and Poland rated their governments worse than Ireland did. Maria Baghramian, a Professor of Philosophy at UCD who coordinated the project, said the study shows many Governments are facing challenges with the publics’ perceptions of them. “None of the countries in the study do particularly well, with large proportions of the public in each saying they’re cautious in trusting their Government, disagreeing that they are honest, truthful and provide unbiased information – although people do tend to be more positive in Norway and Germany than other countries,” she explained. “It is a challenge for the Government that the majority surveyed in Ireland think it does not communicate accurate and unbiased information and are unsure whether to believe the government. “A point of difference that stands out in Ireland is the public’s favourable view of the European Commission, the most favourable of the six countries surveyed.” Feature image via RollingNews.ie