North Belfast MP John Finucane has welcomed the publication of the latest opinion poll showing growing support for Irish unity.
A LucidTalk poll for the Belfast Telegraph shows 48 percent of those polled wish to see Northern Ireland remain part of the UK. It also showed 41 percent of people living in Northern Ireland want to see the reunification of Ireland, with 11 percent undecided.
However, the poll of over 3,000 people, which was published at the weekend, shows that between the ages of 18-24 57 percent would vote for Northern Ireland to be part of a united Ireland if a referendum took place today, with 35 percent voting to remain part of the UK. Between the ages of 25-44 48 percent would vote for unity with the Republic and 42 percent for the status quo.
Sinn Féin’s Finucane said “conversation on the future of our island is to the fore of political discourse like never before."
And he added: “Planning and preparation (for reunification) must start now,” he said.
“The Irish government should lead those preparations by immediately establishing a Citizens’ Assembly on Irish unity to help shape the new Ireland.
“Sinn Féin will begin a people’s conversation from October. We want to hear from everybody on their views on the future.
“The onus is on the Irish government to prepare for referendums and reunification without any more delays.”
The poll also shows a polarized society with the majority of unionists backing the DUP’s stance of not returning to Stormont until the NI Protocol is dealt with.
The poll also shows that the majority of nationalists agree with First Minister-designate Michelle O'Neill that there was no alternative to republicans taking up armed struggle during the Troubles, but that there is an alternative to conflict now because of the Good Friday Agreement.
Michelle O’Neill was on the end of a unionist barrage following those remarks last week to the BBC.
Seven-out-of-ten nationalists backed this assertion, while a quarter disagreed.
The state of the parties show that Sinn Féin is up to 30 percent (up one per cent from May’s Assembly election); the DUP are on 24 percent (up three); Alliance 16 per ent (up two); Ulster Unionists on 11 percent (unchanged); and the SDLP on seven per cent (down two points). As for the smaller parties, the TUV are on six percent; Greens two percent; Aontú two per cent, and People Before Profit one percent.
