Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
THIS WEEK THE Department of Health announced it would no longer publish daily updates on Covid-19 figures.
While this represents another step out of the emergency period of the pandemic, health officials are still urging the public – particularly over the bank holiday – to follow advice and socialise safely.
Mask wearing is still advised on public transport and in crowded settings.
So we want to know: Are you still wearing a face mask in certain settings?
Poll Results:
Yes (13975)
No (6298)
Advertisement
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
78 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
It’s interesting, so far the poll is in favor of “yes”, but strikingly clear from observation the overwhelming majority of people are not wearing a mask in any situation, like: bus, train, luas, shops (both grocery or retail), on the street, in pubs/restaurants.
@Ally Collyer: Wow, so you reduced it down to the two remaining areas you are compelled to wear a mask. It’s like saying, do you wear a seat belt in most areas and you answer “yes” when I’m in a car. This is the reason poll cannot be trusted, especially on the Journal with the their typical reader.
@Alan Wright: the only time I’m not bothering with a mask is if I’m popping in to pick up a takeaway order. Mainly because I’m not gonna be in too long waiting, as its already been called in.
Outside of that, I still wear a mask in line with mandates.
@Mirabelle Stonegate: I get it, “you” wear a mask in most situations, but when you’re out, are you seeing the overwhelming majority of people not wearing a mask? That observation is in contrast with this poll result and my point is, polls of this caliber cannot be trusted as it clearly shows a bias of the Journals typical readership.
@Alan Wright: people are definitely not necessarily on favor of mask wearing. I wear 1 most times i ride the subway. Early in the evening I mightwear 1 lying an Uber to
@Alan Wright: I think it’s the wording ” in certain settings”. One person may wear them on public transport but not a shop, while another might do it the other way around, or as far as I know, everyone has to wear them in a medical setting. I wonder what the result eould be if the listed the settings and allowed multple answers.
@Mirabelle Stonegate: yes there were, however in your responses you are very much giving the impression you believe there still is. By the way, I wear my mask when I enter any buildings for any duration of time (bar residence) and would on public transport if I used it.
@Alan Wright: why do you keep saying “most areas” and the poll clearly says certain situations? You have to wear one in a medical situation so that equals a yes vote. You are deceptively trying to say the poll says most areas to further your own agenda.
@Alan Wright: this is clearly a gaslighting article. I see what’s in front of my face day in and day out. In town, shopping malls, trains; all the same. Not even 5% wearing masks.
@Jackass World: Depends where you are I think. One commentor was saying that it was an accurate portrayal of their locality. A few weeks ago around here, I would have said 50:50, but its only about 25% or so around here now wearing masks.
@Terence Martin: if we start hiding behind masks for everything the body will never build up an immunity to anything. Fair enough if you are immunosuppressed but I have had more flu’s, coughs, colds with all this mask wearing than ever in my life so I don’t agree with them continuously worn.
@lilolil: flu was out of circulation for a long time with covid, you seem to be extremely unlucky. No offence intended, but maybe you should get your immune system checked
@Mirabelle Stonegate: I think it was more to do with lockdown than masks. Didn’t have a single cold when working from home, and had flu/cold twice since returning to the office in October, despite diligently wearing my mask.
@lilolil: definitely sounds like you might be immunocompromised if you’ve had lots of flu and colds in the space of two years when these viruses were probably at their lost levels in decades. Are you sure you didn’t have repeated bouts of Covid?
@lilolil: It is already been proven, you cant build up immunity to covid, the flu or the common cold. So what is you point about exactly. except a wild swing and a miss.
@Gary Kearney: my point is my immune system was stronger when I just got on with it. In 20 years I’ve had two flu’s where I had to stay at home and just recover. In the last two years I’ve had more cough and colds than in 20 year. I never said I had immunity to anything wherever you got from!
I still keep distance from people wearing masks and the elderly, but I don’t wear one myself. The result among 1500 people so far doesn’t reflect reality, it makes you wonder how trustworthy studies based in opinions/questionnaires are.
@Rosa Lopez: That’s what I also said earlier. After reading this article and seeing the results, I was out at the supermarket (both Lidl and Supervalue) and as an exercise I counted the amount of people I saw with a mask. Total was 3 people, that was at 1pm on Talbot St. Dublin City centre. I do not know where the rest of the mask wearers are.
@Alan Wright: ridiculous, by now there are nearly 13.000 votes with 2/3 of them wearing masks. In this case anyone with eyes can see how far from the reality this is. But what if this was about something we could not check by ourselves? As opinions on Irish neutrality not long ago published in here. Looking at this poll it wouldn’t be too difficult to manipulate results.
@Rosa Lopez: “certain settings” is very vague though. Dentists still require masks to be worn in waiting room for example. It should have said “settings where they are not already mandatory”.
@Heisen berg1: no it wasn’t. It would have been far worse if we hadn’t been wearing masks along with social distancing, in lockdown, sanitising and eventually the vaccination.
@Mirabelle Stonegate: Then we should encourage symptomatic individuals to wear masks. Whether they be symptomatic with the cold, flu, COVID, or whatever. It makes most sense. Although we don’t have that sense of community in Irish culture where we view the limited resources we have and share economically.
@Heisen berg1: Actually it hasn’t. For example, relatives in Carlow are telling me Covid is rampant around the town, not the flu. You symptomatic by any chance? Too nervous to take a test? Or is the antigen shoeing negative? ( after my uncles I would not use an antigen)
@Heisen berg1: Well Thankfully we didn’t ask your opinion on public health measures during this pandemic. Scientists on the other hand know that masks help in the prevention of covid transmission.
@Heisen berg1: you are correct, masks do absolutely nothing to prevent the spread of germs or viruses, that’s why you’ll never see surgeons wearing them when they perform operations.
@Liam: as I said to Alan earlier, it depends on the “certain settings.” You may wear it in one place and I might wear it in another. Yet if we met on the street, neither of us may be wearing it and think the poll result is wrong. It needs further breaking down.
@Aiden Burke: Likewise, and I think it’s not fair to the hard working indoor staff if people can’t be bothered. There were plenty of bugs going around before Covid-19, easily caught by people who have to work there.
I still wear it on public transport which I take daily. I also wear one in chemists as they’re often frequented by older or ill people. Otherwise I am glad to not wear them anymore.
Pope Francis had 'peaceful' night in hospital, Vatican says
Updated
4 hrs ago
15.3k
german election
Christian Democrats come first in German election as far-right claim second place spot
10 mins ago
3.5k
The Morning Lead
People living in illegal cabins - including family forced to dismantle home - tell their stories
17 hrs ago
41.2k
82
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 152 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 104 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 136 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 77 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 37 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 50 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 84 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 64 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say