The Institute for Governance and Policy Studies (IGPS) has commissioned this survey to generate a snapshot of the current state of play and, more importantly, to kickstart a much needed conversation.

Our findings suggest that there are serious concerns with levels of public trust in the country. Not only is trust in our government, politicians and media low but it has declined over the last three years.

Specific areas such as political party funding are clearly viewed with great scepticism if not outright suspicion.

Our respondents indicate that levels of trust in people generally (i.e. our friends and neighbours) is high, and that we trust key institutions such as the medical profession and the police. But none of our findings are absolutely definitive.

Therefore we need to have a free and frank discussion about the causes and effects of our lack of trust in politics and media. Our survey is a start but we need to keep asking why people feel the way they do and what we need to change in the future.