The majority of people in Northern Ireland want a Scottish style referendum on the border – but not a United Ireland.
A new survey for the Irish Independent reports that one in five Catholics in the North want to remain in the United Kingdom.
The LucidTalk opinion poll of 1,089 voting age people was carried out at the time of the Scottish Independence referendum.
The poll asked if a vote should be held on whether to stay in the UK or join with the Republic.
After the ‘don’t knows’ were excluded, 56.2 percent said they wanted a referendum and 43.8 percent didn’t. Some Unionists (those who favor the union with the United Kingdom) said they wanted a referendum to settle the question once and for all.
The paper reports that support for a border poll was highest among the young with 58 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds and 55 percent of 25 to 44-year-olds in favor.
The majority of the North’s population under 40 is now Catholic.
Just 38.9 percent of women were in favor of the poll with men showing 55.9 percent support.
The concept of a United Ireland remains without majority support.
The report adds that respondents were asked how they would vote if a border poll was held under the Good Friday Agreement.
The three options offered were yes for unity as soon as possible; yes for unity in 20 years’ time and no for Northern Ireland to remain in the UK.
Just 7.7 percent wanted unity now and about a third, 32.5 percent, favored it in 20 years.
Those two figures combined gives just over 40 percent support for unity at any time for this generation compared to 59.8 percent favoring the status quo.
The report adds that support for unity was strongest among Catholics but not a majority as only 48.3 percent would vote for unity at any time. Just over a fifth, 20.7 percent, preferred UK membership.
Among Protestants, only 11.4 percent were in favor of a united Ireland.
The number of people living in Northern Ireland who regard themselves as being Irish is growing with Irish the chosen identity of 30.9 percent. British identity was also up, now at 51 percent.
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