A breed that does not do aloof
Yes, without much qualification. Friendliness toward strangers is woven into the Irish Setter's standard and history: this is a gundog developed to work in company, travel between shoots, and be handled by strangers, and the breed's personality — rollicking, outgoing, demonstrative — reflects it. The typical setter meets a new person at full wattage, red coat gleaming, tail describing wide arcs, certain the introduction is the best thing that has happened all day. Reserve, growling at visitors, or hiding behind furniture is so far from breed type that it should be read as information: about a fearful upbringing, too little early social contact, or a dog who is in pain.
What that friendliness looks like in a home
In daily life, expect a setter to treat your social life as his own. Guests are greeted individually and thoroughly; tradespeople get supervised with great interest; children at the gate are an event. Setters also tend to generalize — a dog who loves people usually loves all people, in all places, which makes for an easy dog at the vet, the groomer, and on holiday. The flip side is that this breed does not settle for being furniture in the household: a setter wants to be involved in whatever the people are doing, and a dog excluded from the family's comings and goings is a dog quietly planning his own entertainment.
The real problem is enthusiasm at full size
Nobody gets bitten by a friendly setter, but people do get bowled. An adolescent setter is a tall, strong, sixty-pound springer of a dog whose greeting may involve front feet leaving the ground, and that is a genuine hazard for a frail grandparent or a small child even though every intention is joyful. Manage it as a training project from the first week: four feet on the floor earns the greeting, jumping pauses it; visitors are briefed to turn away rather than push the dog down, since pushing reads as play. A solid settle on a mat by the door gives the dog a job during arrivals, and exercise before guests come takes the sharpest edge off the welcome.
Choosing a setter with the right start
Because true setter temperament is so reliably social, temperament questions when you are choosing a dog are really questions about upbringing. Meet the mother if you are buying a puppy — she should come to you happily — and ask what the puppies have been exposed to: household visitors, children, traffic, handling by strangers. For an adult rescue, ask how he behaves with callers at the door and new people on walks, and how long he takes to settle after the excitement. A setter who is merely untrained needs manners work; a setter who is frightened of people needs a behaviour plan, and it helps to know which you are adopting.
Friendliness you can plan around
For most households this breed's openness to strangers is a gift: no tension when friends visit, no management when the doorbell rings, just a big red dog living his conviction that people are wonderful. The work lies in channeling the greeting, not creating the goodwill. That work goes faster when you start with the dog's real history rather than a guess: when your setter's profile moves to you through KinsLe Transferrable Profiles, the previous owner's notes on his social habits, training, and health come with it, and his history stays intact for whoever works with him next.