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CLOSE TO FIVE years ago today, the first “stay-at-home” measures were introduced in Ireland to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Five years on, some of the impacts of the pandemic still linger.
The Central Statistics Office today published COVID-19 – Our Lives Five Years On: Social Impact.
It’s the third in a series of releases exploring the social and economic impact of Covid-19 on society since the onset of the pandemic.
The findings are based on an online-only survey which took place between 16 January and 2 February 2025, and explored how the Covid-19 pandemic is still impacting our lives five years on.
The survey gathered 21,003 responses and while not nationally representative, the CSO said the results are calibrated to Irish population totals and “provide valuable insight”.
Many predicted the death of the handshake during the pandemic, with some opting for elbow bumps as alternatives.
Five years on, 25% of those surveyed by the CSO said they still try to avoid handshaking.
Those with poorer health try to avoid handshaking more than those with better health.
Some 31% of respondents who rate their health as fair or bad try to avoid handshaking compared with 21% of those who rate their health as very good.
Women (32%) are more likely to attempt to avoid handshaking compared with men (18%), and women also report increased handwashing since the pandemic (61% vs 51%).
Some 56% of respondents reported that they wash their hands more often now than before the onset of the pandemic, while 6% say they wash their hands less often.
Meanwhile, 37% of respondents report no change in their frequency of handwashing.
Many people got a pet during the Covid lockdowns and most are happy with the choice.
Some 16% of respondents got a pet during the pandemic, with 67% of these getting a dog, while 30% got a cat.
However, only 6% of people who got a dog, and 3% who got a cat, now regret doing so.
Other common pet types obtained during the pandemic include rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, chickens, and fish, while more unusual pandemic pets listed by respondents include ferrets, mice, rats, lizards, and snails.
Nearly one in four (23%) of respondents aged 18-29 say they got a new pet, more than three times the proportion (7%) of those aged 70 and over.
More than one-quarter (27%) of respondents who lived with their partner or spouse when Covid related restrictions were in place report that the pandemic had a positive impact on their current relationship.
However, 17% said that their current relationship has been negatively impacted, while almost half (49%) feel it has had no impact on their current relationship.
The financial situation of the household at that time appears to affect how the restrictions impacted on relationships between partners or spouses.
Some 38% of respondents who rated their financial situation in 2020 as bad, report that the pandemic had a negative impact on their current relationship.
This compares with 13% of those who rated their financial situation as good at that time.
Respondents who did not work from home before the pandemic but are now working remotely from home at least half of the working week are most likely to say that the pandemic has had a positive impact on familial relationships.
Just over four in ten (41%) of respondents who lived with their partner or spouse when Covid restrictions were in place and who currently work from home at least 50% of the time report that the pandemic has had a positive impact on their relationship.
The comparable rate for employees who do not work from home is 23%.
And exactly half of respondents who are now working remotely from home at least half of their working week report that the pandemic has had a positive impact on their relationship with their children.
The comparable rates for those who do not work from home is 35%.
Meanwhile, 86% of people agree or strongly agree that their work-life balance has improved since they started working remotely from home.
And 70% agree or strongly agree that their job satisfaction has improved since they have started working from home during the pandemic.
Overall, 33% of relevant respondents report that working from home has had a positive impact on their relationships with work colleagues.
Some 17% say it has had a negative impact, while 45% report no impact.
Of those who regularly attended religious ceremonies in person prior to March 2020, 37% no longer do so on a regular basis.
More than half, 55%, still regularly attend in-person, while 8% say they only attend online.
Older respondents are most likely to still attend religious ceremonies either in person or online, with 69% of those aged 70 and over still regularly attending in person, while 12% opt to attend online instead.
However, 67% of younger respondents, those aged 18-29, say they no longer attend religious ceremonies regularly in any form.
Three in ten (31%) say they still attend in person, with only 2% saying they attend online.
One-third of younger respondents, those aged 22-29, say their alcohol consumption has increased, while 40% report a reduction and 27% report no change.
Respondents who describe their household’s current financial situation as good are most likely to report their frequency of exercising increasing since pre-Covid levels, with 38% stating they exercise more often.
In contrast, only 23% of respondents who describe their household’s current financial situation as bad report an increase in their exercise frequency.
Meanwhile, 41% of employees who work from home report their frequency of exercising has increased, while this figure is only 29% for employees who do not work from home.
Elsewhere, 69% of respondents aged 18-29 say they have increased the amount of time spent on social media, compared with 53% of social media users who are 70 years or older.
And while 64% of respondents aged 18-29 state social media impacts their mental health negatively, 75% of respondents aged 70 and over who use social media report it has no impact on their mental health.
Since the pandemic, 27% of respondents who rate their health as fair or bad say they try to avoid social gatherings, almost four times the proportion (7%) of those who rate their health as very good.
Meanwhile, 59% try to avoid others when they themselves are sick – some 68% of female respondents report doing this, compared with 49% of male respondents.
Almost 70% of employees who work remotely from home at least half the working week try to avoid others when they are sick, compared to 55% for those who do not usually work from home.
And only 9% try to keep at least one-metre social distance between themselves and others, with no difference between the rates for male and female respondents.
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they did this in the uk over 20 yrs ago – the only difference it made was that response time were slower and ‘smaller’ crimes went un-investigated due to a lack of manpower at local level ,instead of getting an officer at your door to deal with an incident ,you got a ‘crime number ‘ from someone in a call centre , it was up to YOU to ‘check up’ on the ‘progress’ of the case, al that happened was that people stopped reporting ‘minor’ incidents like shed break-ins, car thefts ,street robberies etc , and those in charge of the police force were able to say that ”reported crime numbers were down ” and so deemed the move to regional offices a success . in reality -crime numbers were rising but no one was reporting them as they new it would be a waste of time doing so . what is needed is MORE gardai at local level -not fewer !
@Eric Davies: I thought the whole idea of the restructuring was to increase the number of garda and Sargents as there would be less admin and the reduction in high level salaries would be reinvested in local level gardai, hence the number of local gardai would increase, would it not?
@Eric Davies: and that’s when the Tony martin incident took place!!
@Eric Davies: yes I got a crime number in Cardiff Wales and that was that
@Vocal Outrage: It didn’t work when the divisions in England/Wales were reduced, there are 20,000 fewer officers now,the divisions in England/Wales rank 27 out of 31 in an International survey of the number of police officers per 100,000 population
@Honeybee: you are right. And guess what, we are ranked even lower.
@Vocal Outrage: thats how it was sold to people -but its not how it turned out – stations that were 20 or so miles apart were ‘amalgamated’ into one – some where even in different counties (lancashire and cheshire for instance) leaving one of the communities without proper cover – when shift changes took place officers had to be at the station for their ‘sign on’ briefing – by the time that was done it meant no officers being available in the non stationed town for over an hour sometimes 2 – also any incidents reported in the town where there was a station would get priority with regard to manpower as they were closer to the station … i know former police officers who were serving at the time and it messed up the entire system .
Also a list of where Krispy Kreme donut outlets will be opening up soon.
@WoodlandBard: hilarious
our fine ruc
@Kieran Cronin: yawn
@Kieran Cronin: Your stone must have needed cleaning that’s fine. Now crawl back under that stone. Stay their clown.
@Kieran Cronin: Muppet
@Kieran Cronin: I, for one, believe the Chief Constable is doing a fine job.
The Cities of Galway, Cork and Dublin are Regional HQs – Kilkenny is upgraded to include its very own ‘Regional Chief Superintendent’ while both the Cities of Limerick and Waterford are ignored? By most accounts both Limerick and Waterford have a higher inner-city crime rate then the entire County of Kilkenny. Something politically amiss here even though I think Commissioner Drew Harris is a breath of fresh air in the corp and the right person to lead the organisation.
@Conor Nolan:
because there is an eastern region covering from meath to waterford. Kilkenny would be in the middle of that. seems logical to me.
@Tim Pot: it does seem strange that. the regional HQ for the Eastern Region is in Kilkenny, I can understand the geography of that one, but the divisional HQ that covers Kilkenny itself will be in Waterford
@Vocal Outrage:
Its the same for the others, example the western region the regional hq is galway, the superintendant monaghan yet the monaghan division hq in drogheda. Its just about finding the right balance between local and central governance. I see no issue.
@Tim Pot: I guess so, I don’t think the army have their overall HQ is the same location as the HQ for the region it’s in, so perhaps that’s a better practice to avoid undue interference from the regional chief super or something
Wenger out
Anyone else see the ad for the fine transit there boss
Joke simple as
As kildare and meath have the lowest number of guards per population this is not good news. We need kildare meath wicklow and louth to be a region on their own. This will lead to these regions losing more guards to other regions. This is not a good idea.
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