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Working towards Irish Unity

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43-would-vote-for-a-united-Ireland-tomorrow

43% ‘would vote for a united Ireland tomorrow’

As any book lover knows all too well, it always pays to read to the end.

There’s some fascinating stat-nuggets in the recent University of Liverpool/Irish News polling, which showed Sinn Fein extending its lead to 10% over the DUP if fresh assembly elections were held tomorrow.

The main thing that caught my eye, however, was a chart on page 36 of the report assessing public attitudes to Irish unity.

Responding to the prompt: ‘I would vote for a united Ireland tomorrow,’ 43.2% of voters responded that they ‘strongly agree[d]’ or ‘agree[d].’ In contrast, 39.5% said they ‘disagree[d]’ or ‘strongly disagree[d].’

Around one in six (13.3%) ‘neither agree[d] nor disagree[d].’

A lead, then, of 3.7% for Irish unity.

This strikes me as significant for a couple of reasons.

First, the headline figure suggests pro-unity sentiment is in the lead (albeit the poll has a margin of error of 3.1%) on a question that tends to see some people who back unity recoil from the prospect of an early vote without proper discussion and planning.

‘We don’t want another Brexit,’ is a remark I’ve heard many times from otherwise staunch supporters of a united Ireland.

Naturally enough, when the polling question is framed in a slightly different way ‘I would vote for a united Ireland in 15-20 years’ time,’ the lead increases significantly.

This time 46.2% ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree,’ while just 32.7% ‘disagree’ or ‘strongly disagree.’ (14.7% are not sure).

A lead for Irish unity by a decisive margin of 13.5%.

These findings are also interesting because previous polls from Liverpool University have tended to show much lower support for the idea of Irish unity – which usually sees their numbers cited energetically by supporters of the constitutional status quo.

The university’s last ‘attitudinal survey’ from March 2022 found: ‘30% would vote for a united Ireland tomorrow which only rises to 33.4%…in 10-15 years.’

So, quite a contrast this time around.

Does this reflect a sizable shift in public opinion in the last few months, or issues with the poll’s sampling?

Either way, it seems like a pretty big deal to leave buried on page 36.

Kevin Meagher is author of ‘A United Ireland: Why Unification is Inevitable and How it Will Come About’