The European Values Study is a pan-European project which utilises an omnibus survey especially on values associated with work, religion, lifestyles and other issues. Its most recent gathering exercise was in 2008, the fourth of its kind. This study focuses on changing religious in Ireland over the span of the EVS (1981-2008) and examines the rise in secularism and the decrease in church participation, which brings Ireland much close to European norms. The data hand suggest a variety of important social questions: If religious and social values and attitudes changing, what are the implications for Irish society? As we become an increasingly educated in quantifiable terms, what is happening to our value and belief systems? Does the erosion of practice mean the erosion of values or are we simply witnessing transference of allegiance institutions to self? Some commentators suggest that reduction of care and concern for others, reduced sense of God, and a minimised approach to things religious, allied with a rise in liberalism, not of themselves harbingers of prosperity and joy for society; the opposite they contend is true, will result in decreased happiness and increased alienation. Is it incontrovertible that Ireland will different in the future, that the social map will have very different contours, especially in relation institutional religion. As the Irish let go of things deeply rooted in their culture and tradition, is this a matter of becoming a mature nation amongst the nations of Europe?
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Reynolds et al. (2011) studied this question.