Four out of 10 likely to vote in Euro elections
Most Irish people are interested in next year's European Parliament elections but less than four out of 10 will definitely vote in them, according to a new poll.
Just one in four Irish people (24%) know that the European Parliament elections are taking place in June of next year, but that's a higher figure than in most parts of the EU, where the average is 16%.
Just 3% of those polled in the UK and Finland knew when the elections were. Residents of Luxembourg have the greatest levels of knowledge of the elections - 43% of those polled knew that the elections were scheduled for June 2009.
While across the EU, the most common reason for voting for a particular candidate in the European elections is his or her experience in European affairs, in Ireland it was candidate's position on national issues which mattered most (46%), followed by how well known he or she was (45%).
The candidate's experience in European affairs is only the third most important factor for Irish voters (listed by 38%), according to the European Commission poll.
