Irish actor Chris O’Dowd is the celebrity driving partner Irish people would most like to accompany them in their car. The findings of SEAT’s summer driving survey place the Moone Boy star firmly at the top with almost 57% of people polled opting for funny man O’Dowd to sit in their passenger seat. Fellow actor Colin Farrell was next in line scooping with 16% while 8% say Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane would be their perfect passenger.

SEAT’s summer driving survey also looked at which international celebrity driving partner, Irish people would most like to accompany them. A third say they would like to take a road trip with Oscar winning actress Jennifer Lawrence while 1 in 4 would like to zip along the highways with Hollywood heart throb Brad Pitt.

Survey respondents were also questioned on what their favourite driving movie was. The 2011 movie ‘Drive’ staring Ryan Gosling came out top (28%) while iconic movies ‘Thelma and Louise’ and ‘The Italian Job’ tied for second both on 22%.

The results also saw the Irish public reveal who their preferred day to day driving partner would be. Romance is alive and well as almost half (47%) chose their spouse or partner while a further 31% looked towards their best friend.

When asked about their favourite iconic driving routes both at home and abroad,  it’s a tie between The Sally Gap in Wicklow and the road from Galway to Clifden both at 24% as the roads people want to drive at home.  Staying West, one in five of respondents chose the Conor Pass in Kerry as their favourite driving route followed closely by The Burren in Co. Clare (16%).

When it comes to taking to the road further afield, Irish people also revealed which international driving route they would most like to tackle with Route 66 in the USA accounting for 33% and 24% opting for the Cote d’Azur across Italy and France.

Finally Irish motorists declared that the most irritating thing a passenger can do on a long journey is to brace dramatically at the faintest hint of danger (53%). The next most irritating passenger trait was people fiddling with the radio/CD player (20%).

Neil Dalton, Head of Marketing at SEAT Ireland commented; “The results offer an interesting insight into the driving preferences of Irish motorists. We all know Ireland is a beautiful country but not many people make the most of the excellent driving routes we have. This reminds us that there is no better time to experience it than this summer!”