Hard work is “absolutely not” enough to succeed in modern Ireland, a sociologist has argued. 

A recent poll for the Sunday Independent by the research organisation Ireland Thinks found that one in three Irish people agree that working hard is enough to be successful in life. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, South East Technological University Waterford lecturer Jill O’Mahony said plenty of talented people do not get what they want because of the barriers placed in front of them by modern life. 

 “It's lovely to see that it's starting to become something that the general public is attuned to,” she said. 

“You know, studies essentially show that grit or hard work has a very modest predicted power for success.”

Two men at work. Picture by: Jessica Gow/Alamy.

Dr O’Mahony continued that class plays a huge role in determining how successful a person is in life. 

While rich people often find opportunities easy to come by, poor people are forced to focus on just getting by. 

“If you're born into a family that's in a higher socioeconomic status, that has a higher socioeconomic status… life is a little bit easier in terms of finances,” she explained. 

“There's going to be less external stress and even something like less perceived difficulty in terms of accessing opportunities will breed confidence.”

Dr O’Mahony that the differences are apparent even in the earliest years of a child’s life. 

“They're showing up at an early age - you're talking about 12 months of age,” she said. 

“There's a difference in language capacity and vocabulary.

“How much time does the parent have to spend interacting with their kids or even reading with them? 

“These things have massive impact and an underestimated impact, but it's coming through in the research.”

A group of children from a nursery school in high visibility jackets. Picture by: Gary Hider / Alamy. 

If the Government wants to make Ireland a more equal place, Dr O’Mahony suggested higher funding for early years education, which could help root out inequalities. 

“I think actually we need to really level the playing field at a much younger age,” she argued.  

“Research shows that countries that have more equal opportunities, whereby this class divide isn't as noticeable and tend to treat early education care, specifically early education, as a more of a professional entity… Essentially, they're treated in a similar way to primary school teachers in Ireland. 

“That has a massive knock on impact and I think that's really where we need to be looking.”

Main image: A young woman in the office. Picture by: Alamy.com.