The majority of Irish people feel their lifestyle has not improved in recent years due to the rising cost of living, according to new research.
Despite a report by the Economist magazine last year which suggested the country was the most desirable place in the world to live, a survey conducted by market research group Mintel Ireland found just one in 10 adults were happy with the economic and political climate in Ireland.
The report, Irish Lifestyles - The Cost Of Being Irish, found a quarter of people felt their salary did not go as far as it used to, one fifth found it hard to make time for leisure activities and almost half were sticking to a strict budget.
The report is based on a survey of 1,203 adults in the Republic and 1,022 adults in Northern Ireland in August and September 2004.
Mintel Ireland is a market research firm which conducts analysis of aspects of consumers' economic activity. The report is the firm's fifth annual review of changing lifestyles in Ireland.
While 31 per cent of respondents felt their lifestyle had improved in the last three years, around 55 per cent said it had not.
Younger people were more likely to record positive changes in their lifestyle, least likely to be in debt and more convinced that Ireland was a better place to live.
Older people were more likely to say their lifestyle had been affected by the cost of living and to have experienced an increase in debt.
There were also substantial changes in leisure activities compared to a report conducted two years ago.
The numbers watching television as a leisure choice dropped from 60 to 48 per cent in the Republic, while the numbers going to the pub dropped from 44 per cent to 31 per cent.
The research pointed up marked differences between the North and the South. Almost twice as many in the Republic said they were forced to stick to a strict financial budget compared with those in the North.
Those living in Dublin experienced the highest cost of living. More than a quarter of those surveyed in the Republic said the cost of a weekly shop stretched them to their limit.
A greater improvement in lifestyle was reported in Northern Ireland with almost 35 per cent of those surveyed saying their lifestyle was better than it was three years ago. This compared to 31.2 per cent in the Republic.
Workers in the North felt they had greater job security than in the Republic, although more in the South believed the Republic offered better job opportunities.