Angela Scanlon, well-known Irish broadcaster, recently launched Panadol’s ‘This is what we’re made of’ campaign, a celebration of the unique formula that makes Ireland so different.
As part of the initiative, results of a nationwide survey - commissioned by Panadol and run through Accuracy research - were revealed. The findings offer a light-hearted insight into the social fabric of Ireland today. A core part of the research aimed to uncover the magic formula pertaining to our uniquely Irish personality: its turns out that ‘having the craic’, resilience, and our gift for story telling remain part of our DNA and true markers of our “Irishness."
The craic (20pc ); resilience (18pc ); community/family focus (13pc ); the gift of the gab (12pc ); begrudgery (10pc ); charm (9pc ); tendency to exaggerate (8pc ); and others (10pc ) came out as the formula that makes the Irish different to the rest of the world.
The results also show that Ireland as a nation has become more culturally diverse, open and confident. In addition, we see ourselves as less spiritual, community minded, and locally minded.
The passing of the marriage equality referendum emerges as the event that made us most proud to be Irish in the last 10 years, while interestingly, Conor McGregor’s recent fight against Floyd Mayweather was not considered a proud Irish moment.
Despite evolution and adaptation, the phenomenon of Irish tea drinking – serving tea as a remedy to solve any problem - and our unconventional use of the word ‘grand’ are still considered our top habits which best define being Irish.
Launching the campaign, Angela Scanlon said that “Being Irish has always been a massive part of my identity and something I'm extremely proud of, even more so now that I live away from home."
The survey found that young and old alike hold Michael D Higgins very close to their hearts - 62 per cent believe our President best personifies what it means to be Irish. When asked who would best represent Ireland as a spokesperson though, Higgins didn’t make the cut. Cork native and Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary won out for his no-nonsense style and entrepreneurial spirit.
