Why are Irish attitudes to immigrants among the most liberal in Europe? Testing structural determinants in a comparative context

There has been a dramatic inflow of immigrants into Ireland in recent years. Yet recent European Social Surveys indicate that Irish attitudes towards immigrants are among the most liberal in Europe. We test the association between a number of economic and cultural measures and attitudes to immigrants at the aggregate national level. Although Ireland fits the expected association and in the predicted direction the most notable feature of our results is the lack of a clear pattern between these measures and attitudes to immigrants across the European countries in the sample.