Ian McShane - Behaviour and Attitudes Managing Director:Today's coverage of The Irish Times/Behaviour and Attitudes poll touches upon the more personal views of women in Ireland regarding social and moral issues.
We begin by examining the extent to which Irish women are concerned with social issues at a global, as well as a national level.
Crime is the one single issue of greatest concern to them, by quite some margin.
Just under three out of every four indicate they are either extremely or very concerned about this issue, a proportion which rises to 85 per cent of all women aged 55 years or over.
It is particularly worrying to note that concern with crime in general is as high in the major cities and towns of Ireland (72 per cent) as it is in rural communities (73 per cent), indicating that this is a scourge believed to permeate all layers of Irish society.
Women are also fearful of their personal security, a topic which is of relevance to all age groups, from the very young to the elderly. Similarly, the issue is worrying to women across all socio-demographic groupings, and in all parts of the country.
One of the more interesting findings of today's poll relates to the high levels of concern expressed by women regarding world climate change. As a social issue, the environment and climate change has always ranked relatively low.
There is no doubt, however, that climate change has well and truly arrived on the agenda in Ireland, following a summer of severe weather across the globe.
The success of such spokespersons as Al Gore in bringing the green message to a wider audience is capped by the inclusion of the Green Party in Government for the first time.
Thus, almost eight in 10 of all Irish women now tell us they are concerned about climate change to some extent. Interestingly, concern with the environment at a global level actually increases as women become older, certainly up until the age of 64 years.
For example, 76 per cent of all 18 to 34-year-old women are worried about world climate change, a proportion which rises to 83 per cent of all those aged 45 to 64. The issue is also of concern to women of all socio-economic backgrounds.
No longer the sole preserve of the idealistic young nor the comfortable middle-class "intellectuals", climate change is a real issue for women in Ireland and is fixed firmly on the socio-political agenda.
We have also read and heard much about the social implications of increased immigration and the moral obligations that a rapidly changing society places on Irish citizens as hosts to a new wave of new nationals.
Indeed, most recent census figures indicate that as many as 10 per cent of the Irish population were born outside the country, equating to almost half a million people. By all accounts, this is, if anything, a conservative estimate.
The opinions of women towards immigration are quite interesting, insofar as they seem to draw a distinction between the fundamental presence of new nationals in the country on the one hand, and the numbers of such individuals entering the country.
Thus, we see that two-thirds of all women feel there are far too many immigrants coming in these days, a figure which is lowest among younger women (just 53 per cent of all 18 to 24 year olds), and highest among those aged 45-plus (approaching three-quarters of whom agree there are too many immigrants).
This pattern of response is in stark contrast to that which emerges when the respondents were asked if they would be disappointed if their son or daughter married a new national.
Almost two-thirds say they would by no means be disappointed in such an event, suggesting that where resistance does occur to net inward migration, it is significantly more likely to be based on socio- economic rather than cultural or indeed racist motives.
With regard to the traditional sanctity of marriage, a number of interesting findings also emerge.
Most agree that everyone marrying nowadays should consider entering a pre-nuptial agreement. It is particularly interesting to note that this majority view holds constant across all of the age groups, up to and including women aged 65 and older.
With separation and divorce increasing year on year, we have true evidence here of Irish women taking a far more pragmatic view of marriage than could ever have been imagined even 10 years ago.
On this point, we see that 21 per cent of all women agree they are likely to become divorced or separated at some stage in the future, rising to a third of all women aged 18 to 24.
Of this younger age group (those who, in the main, have yet to take the marital plunge), only one- third disagree they are likely to become divorced or separated, with one-third unsure.
There is also reason to believe that the social opprobrium which might once have been associated with a family divorce or separation is by now a thing of the past.
As such, almost two-thirds indicate that they would not disapprove in the event of a son or daughter separating or divorcing, a figure which stands at almost seven in 10 of all women aged 18-44 years.
Abortion has been a deeply divisive issue in Ireland for the last 20 years or more. As such, it is noteworthy that a majority of women (54 per cent) now believe that the Government should legislate to allow abortion to take place in Ireland.
Thirty-one per cent feel the Government should not introduce such legislation, with 15 per cent undecided. Support for abortion is highest among younger and single women, although a majority of all women up to the age of 64 years who express an opinion are in favour of its introduction.
When women are asked whether they would support abortion where there is a real and substantial risk to the life and health of the mother, support levels actually rise to almost 70 per cent.
Such high levels of support for abortion legislation can perhaps be explained to some extent by the significant proportion (42 per cent) of women who profess to personally knowing someone who has had an abortion.
Finally, we turn to the issue of women's views of sex and sexuality.
The great majority of women feel that attitudes towards sex in Ireland nowadays compared to 20 years ago are a lot more liberal, with only one-third of women of the opinion that this liberalisation represents a negative force.
Furthermore, the great majority of those who view the liberalisation of sex positively believe that the changes have been either better for women (22 per cent) or equally good for both men and women (71 per cent).
As to how this liberalisation of sex has manifested itself in practical terms, we can see that the great majority of women have had between just one and three sexual partners in their lifetime, although the average number of sexual partners does increase significantly among the younger age groups (18 to 34 years).
While the average number of partners has obviously increased dramatically, generation by generation, the fundamentals of a faithful and monogamous relationship still hold true for the majority of Irish women.
As such, it emerges that just 6 per cent of those women who are married or in a long-term relationship have had another sexual relationship while they were still with their current partner, with younger women and those from the middle to upper professional classes more likely than all others to have strayed in this regard.