Be it the economic downturn or the increase in apparitions across the country, the number of those attending Mass in Ireland is on the up.

A telephone poll of 1,000 thousands adults from the ages of 18 up last month revealed that 46 percent go to worship weekly and 65 percent do so once a month.

In the cross section of that poll aged 18-24, 31 percent attend weekly and 22 percent got to Mass once a month or more frequently.

The older attend more often with 70 percent of these over 65 attending weekly. The poll also revealed that people who live outside urban areas attend more regularly - 56 percent of country dwellers polled go weekly while the number from Dublin was 38 percent.

Result of those polled showed that Fianna Fail supporters worshiped the most (72 percent), with Fina Gael next on 68 percent, followed by Labour on 65 percent.