Almost two-thirds of Irish people says limits should be put on number of refugees entering country

• Yesterday 18:47

Almost two-thirds of Irish people say the country should not continue to take in an unlimited number of Ukrainian refugees, according to new research.

The survey, which was commissioned by Virgin Media Television and carried out by Red C, looked at concerns around migration in Ireland.

Some 83pc of those surveyed disagreed that Ireland has the services to cater for the number of people arriving here.

Meanwhile four in 10 respondents said they or their families have poorer access to services due to refugee and asylum seekers arriving into the country.

Almost half of respondents feel more positive towards Ukrainian refugees coming to Ireland than asylum seekers of other nationalities.

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Almost two-thirds of people (64pc) disagreed that Ireland should continue to take in an unlimited number of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. This figure rose to 70pc among respondents aged 35 to 54 years.

Eight in 10 of those surveyed said Ireland does not have the services to cater for the number of asylum seekers entering the country. This rose to 89pc for those aged over 55 and this belief was strongest among people living in Dublin.

Just over half of people believe the recent rise in protests outside refugee and asylum seeker accommodation centres are not justified.

Over a third of people said they would not support a  migrant accommodation centre in their area, rising to 39pc in Dublin and 42pc among those aged 35 to 54.

Only 50pc would support a migrant accommodation centre in their area, while 15pc were unsure whether they would support it or not.

Meanwhile 50pc of respondents said they would not support Ireland sending weapons to Ukraine, this compares to 36pc who said they would support such a move.