06/02/2013

BBC Poll Shows Support For Union

A BBC Spotlight poll has indicated strong support in favour of Northern Ireland’s continuing union with Great Britain.

When asked how they would vote in a referendum, 65% of respondents said they would vote for Northern Ireland to remain a part of the UK, while only 17% would vote to join with the Republic of Ireland.

12% would not vote, while 5% replied 'don’t know'.

The results from Roman Catholics surveyed showed less support for the union, but the majority, 38%, still said they would vote for Northern Ireland to remain in the UK.

35% said they would vote for a 'united Ireland', while 18% would not vote.

72% of people who identified themselves as 'Northern Irish' said they would vote to keep the union, while just 7% were in favour of Northern Ireland joining the Republic of Ireland.

The BBC poll found 48% of all respondents felt the current political system in Northern Ireland does not favour one community more than the other.

39% said it did, while 12% said they don’t know.

The poll also included questions on politicians’ handling of the union flag protests.

33% of those surveyed said they felt Alliance MP Naomi Long had handled the issue 'badly'. This was followed closely by 30% who felt she had handled it 'well'. When singling out the responses from unionists, these figures changed to 59% and 10%, respectively.

When asked about First Minister Peter Robinson’s handling of the issue, 37% of DUP supported said he had handled the situation 'badly', while 30% said he had handled it 'well'.

When taking on board the views of all respondents, these numbers rose to 46% and 22% respectively.

The poll was carried out for the BBC Spotlight programme by Ipsos Mori.

Over 1000 adults were interviewed at 64 locations across Northern Ireland between 17 and 26 January.

(IT)

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