Mum is the WORD for most of us

Mother's Day survey settles a national debate

- DANNY DE VAAL

MUM'S the word ...the majority of Irish people use to refer to their mother, the results of a study have found.

The survey which was carried out by bookmaker Paddy Power Bingo and published yesterday has finally settled the nationwide debate.

Out of the 32 counties, 14 counties used "mum" more than other variations.

Researchers concluded that the further north a person lived in Ireland, the more likely it was for "mum" to be used.

Some of the counties which predominantly used this turn-of-phrase include Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Carlow, Cavan, and Wicklow.

The survey split those living in Dublin into two where 42% of Northsiders overwhelmingly preferred "mam" and 38% of Southsiders preferred "mum".

In North Dublin, the second most popular term was "mum" with 14% followed closely by "ma" with 13%.

While across the Liffey in South Dublin the second most popular way to describe a mother was "mam" with 22% followed by "ma" with 13%.

MAM