Almost half of Irish men never use sun protection when in Ireland, a new survey has shown.

According to the findings, 47% of men never use sun protection compared to 19% of women. Furthermore, almost half of those who do not use sun protection believe that the sun in Ireland ‘is not that strong' and cite this as their reason for not using it.

The survey was commissioned to coincide with Melanoma Awareness Month, which is running throughout May. This is part of the the SOS (save our skin) campaign, which was developed by La Roche-Posay with the support of the Irish Cancer Society (ICS).

In Ireland, one in every eight men and one in every 10 women will develop skin cancer by the age of 74. Over 8,100 new cases of the disease were diagnosed in 2009.

The survey of 451 adults found that overall, around one in three Irish adults never use sun protection and almost one in three only use it occasionally. Some 14% of people believe that applying sunscreen is a waste of time.

Among those who use sun protection, 45% only apply it once a day, while 21% apply it twice. Sunscreen should be reapplied every 80 minutes.

Over half of respondents admitted that family is the biggest influence on their use and chosen level of sun protection factor.

The campaign is appealing to the public to adopt safe behaviour in the sun when abroad as well as in Ireland, to get their moles/suspicious lesions checked and to check their partner's moles.

The survey noted that 55% of respondents said they did not have any moles. However, this is in direct conflict with the fact that the average number of moles in people with white skin is 30, but some people may have as many as 400.

Almost 75% of those who acknowledged that they had moles had examined the appearance of these moles and 41% did so at least every two months. Although over half of those interviewed would turn to their GP for advice on moles and skin health, two of out 10 said they would look for information on the internet.

Meanwhile the survey also found that people were generally more careful when abroad. In fact, four out of 10 believed that 25 degree sun in Spain was stronger and more damaging than 25 degree sun in Ireland and therefore they were significantly more likely to use sun protection when away.

For more information on this campaign and protecting your skin, click here