What is Global Perceptions?
The British Council’s flagship research programme, Global Perceptions: how 18–34 year olds see the UK and the world, offers invaluable insight into the soft power and international influence of the world’s leading powers, and its focus on youth voices distinguishes it from other international soft power surveys and indices. This research provides a detailed picture of the values that matter to young people today, their trust in people and governments, their intentions to engage with education, arts and culture, and other metrics.
What is Global Perceptions UK-Ireland?
As part of our Global Perceptions international research project, we partnered with Co-operation Ireland, the British Embassy in Ireland, and the Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South (ARINS) to host a focus group comprising young people from Ireland and Northern Ireland, aged 18–34, followed by a roundtable discussion with invited guests. This event was held at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin. These two closely linked events brought together young people and key stakeholders to explore how attitudes and perceptions on soft power topics, such as trust and influence, shape relationships between Ireland and the UK.
By placing youth voices alongside quantitative survey data, which included the opinions of just over 1,000 young people living in Ireland, the events aimed to test and enrich existing evidence through dialogue grounded in lived experience. At a moment when relationships across Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain continue to evolve, bringing these groups together added depth, richness and nuance to the research. It enabled participants to move beyond abstract survey findings and reflect on how perceptions are shaped by proximity, shared history, and ongoing social and political change on the island of Ireland. This is the second time this event has taken place, with the inaugural focus group and roundtable discussion taking place in 2023–24. You can read more here about our Global Perceptions 2023–24 focus group and roundtable discussion.
What took place
The event took place on 30 March 2026 and consisted of two linked sessions:
- In the morning, a facilitated focus group brought together 22 young participants from Ireland and Northern Ireland under Chatham House rules. Participants discussed headline findings from the Global Perceptions 2025 survey and reflected on issues such as trust, national identity, international engagement, and the impact of media and political change on perceptions. The focus group was facilitated by Co-operation Ireland.
- In the afternoon, a closed research briefing and roundtable discussion convened stakeholders from government, research, culture, and civil society. The session included guest contributions from the British Ambassador to Ireland, HMA Kara Owen, President of the Royal Irish Academy Professor Daniel Carey, and ARINS co-directors Pauric Dempsey and Ruth Hegarty. The discussion linked focus group insights to broader policy and research questions from stakeholders, with young participants elaborating on their individual and group responses to the Global Perceptions research. We shared highlights from the morning’s focus group and Global Perceptions 2025 findings relating to Ireland and Northern Ireland. This was followed by a facilitated Q&A session.
At both the morning and afternoon sessions, British Council Director of Research & Insight, Christine Wilson, presented highlights and key findings from Global Perceptions 2025 relating specifically to Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK. Doug Jefferson and Claudia Clark from Savanta were our rapporteurs for the focus group, capturing the discussions and feeding back to the roundtable in the afternoon.
Global Perceptions UK-Ireland Report
The findings from the focus group and roundtable have been consolidated into the Global Perceptions 2025: UK–Ireland Report. The report will be made available soon.
Further Information
About the Global Perceptions UK-Ireland research event, contact:
Dr Kerry McCall Magan, Country Director, Ireland: Kerry.McCallMagan@britishcouncil.org
About the Global Perceptions research programme and data, contact:
Anna Duenbier, Knowledge Exchange Manager and EU Single Point of Contact, Research and Insight: Anna.Duenbier@britishcouncil.org