Northern Ireland

Opinion poll finds nearly two-thirds in Northern Ireland would vote to rejoin the EU

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the Windsor Framework last year
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen negotiated the Windsor Framework in 2023 to manage post-Brexit trading arrangements. A new opinion poll has now found that, despite the political upheaval of recent years, nearly three-quarters of voters in Northern Ireland would choose to rejoin the EU. (Dan Kitwood/PA)
By Allan Preston

AS two years of Stormont collapse caused by Brexit tensions has ended, a new poll has found nearly two-thirds of people in Northern Ireland would vote to rejoin the EU.

The DUP’s objections to post-Brexit trading rules and the political turmoil that followed is over for now, but a LucidTalk poll for the Sunday Life and Belfast Telegraph found that if another referendum was held today – most people would face the upheaval of reversing Brexit.

Slightly over 3,200 people across Northern Ireland were asked for their views between February 9-12.

Weighted to reflect the population, 62% chose to rejoin, 35% to stay out while 3% were unsure or offering no opinion.

In the original 2016 referendum, the UK-wide result narrowly passed Brexit by 51.89%.

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At the time in north, 56% of voters had chosen to remain with 44% choosing to leave.

The latest poll foundings also revealed that substantially more women than men in Northern Ireland would choose to rejoin the EU at 70%, compared to 53% of men.

All age groups endorsed a pro-EU position, but this was more pronounced in 25-34-year-olds (74%) and 35-44-year-olds.

For 18-25-year-olds, fewer wanted to rejoin the EU at 59% with similar amounts for 45-54-year-olds (56%) and 55-64-year-olds (50%).

In the 65 and over demographic, 61% were also in favour of rejoining.

A sign on a lamp post outside Larne Port with the word No Irish Sea Border
A sign on a lamp post outside Larne Port with the word No Irish Sea Border. (Liam McBurney/PA)

In keeping with trends from the 2016 referendum, that vast majority of nationalist and Alliance voters would choose to rejoin while most unionists would stay.

Almost all SDLP voters (99%) would choose to rejoin compared with Sinn Féin’s 95% rejoin and 4% to stay out and Alliance’s 92% to rejoin and 7% to stay out.

TUV voters were the most against rejoining the EU at 85%, with 11 % stating they would rejoin and 4% undecided.

DUP Leader Jeffrey Donaldson leads his MLA’s to Stormont , as Northern Ireland's devolved government is to be restored, Two years to the day since it collapsed. PICTURE:  COLM LENAGHAN
The DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson's decision to restore Stormont was backed by two thirds of unionists in a poll, but the party's overall popularity reduced slightly. PICTURE:  COLM LENAGHAN

Another question in the poll related to the DUP’s recent decision to return to Stormont.

The party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson eventually declared last month that enough changes had been secured to the post-Brexit trading arrangements for his party to restore the institutions.

Two-thirds of unionists (67%) backed his decision, the poll found, while 28% said he should not have restored Stormont until the protocol was removed entirely.

The DUP’s support overall, however, did suffer a dip.

Questioned on who they would vote for in another Stormont poll, the DUP’s support reduced by four points to 24%while Sinn Féin remained the largest party at 31%.