Saints, scholars... and cinema-goers

IRELAND may not be regarded as a nation of “culture vultures” but an EU report shows we are huge fans of films and books.

However, it’s a different story when it comes to historical monuments, museums, galleries or going to an opera or ballet.

The survey shows that Irish people are the most frequent cinema-goers of any of the 27 EU member states with each person making an average of 4.2 annual visits to the cinema — more than twice the EU average of 1.9 cinema admissions.