Ms Lorna Hayes:

There is one point we have not really touched on. We noted that throughout this year's poll the "don't know" response was quite significant across the questions, but particularly notable on the question of whether the EU is moving in the right direction. It was also notable on the questions on EU performance in different policy areas and on Russia, Ukraine and Gaza, and security and defence. That was quite significant in those questions. That also begs the question on how civil society and the Government are engaging the public and informing them. We need to think a bit more about how we reach people in the right way through the right mediums.

What was also surprising for us was in those "don't knows", in every single question women selected "don't know" in a far greater percentage than men. That would require more gender analysis. We cannot give an explanation for that trend but it was something that we had not seen before or at least noted before. That is really important as well and something we need to consider.