Press Room

A survey carried out this week as part of the 'Know Your Neighbour Weekend' initiative has shown that a large proportion of Irish people do not know their neighbours very well and feel that there has been a reduction in neighbourliness in recent years.

300 people, randomly selected on the streets of Dublin earlier this week, were interviewed on the subject of 'neighbourliness'.

Results show that:
*A large majority - 73% of those surveyed - believe there has been a decline in neighbourliness in recent years.
*In terms of how well people know their neighbours, 36% of those surveyed said that they 'did not know their neighbours at all' or else 'did not know them very well'.
*Only 35% of survey participants said they knew their neighbours 'very well'.
*Of the 194 respondents who said they did not know their neighbours very well, 62% said they would like to get to know them better.
*25% of survey participants said they did not even know the names of the people living next-door to them and 70% said they had 'rarely' or 'never' been inside their next-door neighbour's house.

Know Your Neighbour Weekend is a new initiative being driven by Macra na Feirme with the purpose of encouraging people to interact more with their neighbours. The initiative is being supported by ESB Customer Supply and FBD Insurance.

Speaking on the survey, Macra na Feirme national president Colm Markey said that it was clear from the results there was a real need to encourage people to get to know their neighbours better.

'Research has shown that there are countless positive benefits to interacting with those who live close to us, but an unfortunate symptom of modern Ireland is that we are just not doing this. We are all well aware of the enormous progress of the Irish economy over the last ten years, but on the other hand many people now find themselves living very hectic lifestyles, spending long hours working, perhaps commuting 2 or 3 hours each day, and trying to fit a busy social life in around all this. People are often so busy with their own lives that it has now got to a point that they don't even know their own neighbours, so Know Your Neighbour Weekend offers people the chance to do something to rectify this situation,' said Mr. Markey.

Mr. Markey also said that he is hopeful that Know Your Neighbour Weekend will act as a catalyst for an increase in interaction between neighbours.

'The fact that so many people around the country have got behind Know Your Neighbour Weekend and are organising activities and events, is proof that people are willing to make the effort to get to know their neighbours better if they get a little bit of encouragement. And it doesn't have to be a big thing - if people simply introduce themselves or perhaps say hello to someone in their neighbourhood that they don't already know, then Know Your Neighbour Weekend has been a very worthwhile initiative,' he said.

**NOTE**
67% of those surveyed were in the 20 to 39 age bracket; the remaining 33% were all over 40 years of age.
40% were male; 60% female.

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