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Abstract

Euthanasia or assisted dying is currently illegal in Ireland. This research project aimed to investigate the attitudes of people living in Ireland towards the potential legalisation of euthanasia through analysis of results from a survey created on Google forms. This survey was distributed to 294 people, aged 18-75 years old, focusing on factors that could possibly influence an individual’s opinion towards the legalisation of euthanasia such as religious beliefs, age, gender and area of study/work. Upon analysis of the responses, participants who did not have strong religious beliefs were more likely to support the legalisation of euthanasia than those who have strong religious beliefs. Older age cohorts were more supportive of the legalisation of euthanasia with 63.3% of 31–50 year olds and 63.2% of 51–75 year olds in support, and only 52.1% of 18–30-year-olds in support. Analysis of the opinion of participants on the circumstances required for euthanasia to be considered identified three main circumstances: persistent vegetative state, chronic untreatable pain, and terminal prognosis of less than 6 months. Over half of participants (55%) believed consent should be required to be obtained 2-3 times prior to assisted dying and euthanasia. Less than half the participants (47.6%) believed a doctor should have the right to refuse to perform euthanasia due to personal or religious beliefs if the patient is referred to another doctor who will perform the procedure.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Full Publication Date

10-30-2026

Publisher

Munster Technological University

Resource Type

research article

Access Rights

open access

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