That highly publicised survey about Irish people's inability in languages other than English was based on Irish being the most popular second language. The Eurobarometer poll showed Irish (at 38 per cent) as the most widely known language other than respondents' mother tongue, with French, which 25 per cent said they knew, coming second. Only 61 per cent of Irish respondents thought it useful to know another language compared to the EU average of 72 per cent.

Displaying a degree of xenophobia, 75 per cent of Irish people interviewed thought that everyone in Europe should be able to speak English - a higher figure than in the UK.