Dublin City Council has released the results of ‘Your Dublin Your Voice’, the first local government-led opinion panel in Ireland. It sought the views of people who live, work, study or visit the Dublin Region. Almost 2,300 people, representing all ages and backgrounds, over 60 nationalities and every county in Ireland, took part in the survey.
Among the findings, attitudes to major completed projects in the city were collated and show that 98% of people feel positive/very positive about LUAS, and 95% feel the same way about dublinbikes and the proposed expansion of the scheme.
According to Lord Mayor Gerry Breen “The findings of ‘Your Dublin, Your Voice’ are important for decision makers in areas like planning, transport, policing, tourism, business and sports because they give an insight into what real people think about Dublin and what they want to change. As well as asking people about what they thought was good and bad about life in Dublin, the survey also asked people how they felt about new initiatives in the city. Almost all respondents thought Luas and dublinbikes were good for the city. “
Some key findings:
In spite of all the economic turmoil of recent times Dubliners are upbeat about living, working and studying in Dublin.
- Almost 90% (over 2,000) of respondents were positive about the fact that their job or place of study was in Dublin
- A similar percentage would recommend Dublin to family and friends as a great place to visit. The majority felt so strongly about Dublin that over 70% would prefer to live in the capital than anywhere else in Ireland In the opinion of one respondent Dublin’s strength was that its “a vibrant international city with a small town feel”
- Respondents identified Dublin’s key strengths as its people (31%) in particular their humour, friendliness and warmth, its culture and arts (17%), its compact size (15%) and its diverse cosmopolitan feel (13%)
- Some 88% of respondents welcomed diversity in the city and felt that this was one of Dublin’s key strengths. One respondent commented that “It’s the people that count. They have never lost their generous warmth” Another respondent observed that Dublin is a place “where you can see a city, a fishing harbour, and the mountains in one day.”
- Not surprisingly only 16% of respondents felt that Dublin is an easy place in which to find a job today. Some of the worst things about Dublin highlighted included the perception of significant levels of anti-social behaviour, street begging, drink and drug abuse. These aspects were identified as a negative by 36% of respondents. Many of the panel members feel that drugs use has had a serious impact on the image of the city centre and is something that needs urgent attention from all stakeholders that operate in the city
- Other areas of concern were Litter/Cleanliness/Appearance (17%) and Public Transport (11%)
- 98% of respondents rated LUAS positively. 95% and 89% of respondents respectively rated dublinbikes and Dublin Port Tunnel positively 85% of respondents are positive about Metro North and 74% approve of taking water from the Shannon for the Dublin Region
‘Your Dublin Your Voice’ was carried out by Dublin City Council in collaboration with Delve Research and was conducted in accordance with the Marketing Institute of Ireland Member Code of Practice. It is the first of quarterly surveys Dublin City Council and its partners will carry out.
Read the full report and find out what panel members had to say about their local areas, major infrastructure projects in the city and ideas for improving the city, or take part in the survey: www.yourdublinyourvoice.ie