VIDEO: Alternative census finds 40% don’t ‘feel cherished’
A group looking to explore what really matters to people living here also found the majority of people living here still feel proud to call Ireland their home.
The Trailblazery is a group devoted to projects which question accepted views. It launched the Census of the Heart to gauge the nation’s “emotions” in 2016.
Designed as an alternative to the National Census, the Census of the Heart gauged the opinions of 12,000 people on a range of issues including life, society and wellbeing in Ireland.
A key question included ‘do you feel cherished in Irish society?’ Only just over a quarter (29.5%) agreed with the statement while 36.7% disagreed.
The study asked an open-ended question asking respondents to tell people reading the report 100 years from now what it really feels like to be alive in Ireland in 2016.
“Our generation is either jumping on planes or jumping in rivers. At every stage of our lives now, we will be poorer than our parents were. I hope 2116 is a nicer place,” one responder said.
Another stated: “I am sorry that we could not think of you when we were in charge of the country. Ignorance and greed got the better of us. We were a country that had many dark clouds hanging over us so we were inclined to avoid progress.”
The Eighth Amendment was repeatedly mentioned as a key concern. However, the Marriage Equality Referendum was seen as something to be proud of, that inspired hope and brought a sense of potential.
People felt more positive than negative emotions when asked to identify their feelings with the top three emotions expressed as gratitude, contentment and positivity. The top negative emotions expressed were being overwhelmed, lonely and scared.
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