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Unification - Poll questions about support for a united Ireland



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Page Compiled: Martin Melaugh

 

The following table contains summary results from polls which contained a question about support for a united Ireland. Most of the polls listed were conducted within Northern Ireland but there are also some results for the Republic of Ireland.

Recent polls containing a question about support for a united Ireland (UI), or remaining in the UK

Date (Publication) Area Yes
(UI)
No
(Stay UK)
Don't Know Won't
vote
Lead
 
3 Dec 2022 NI 27% 50% 18% 5% 23%
3 Dec 2022 RoI 66% 16% 13% 5% 50%
Ipsos poll for The Irish Times and ARINS. Newspaper article; ARINS survey details. NI sample of 1,009 in home, personal interviews, 17 Aug to 15 Oct 2022. RoI sample of 1,000 in home, personal interviews, 12 Aug to 24 Oct 2022.
 
26 May 2022 NI 34% 48% 11% 4% 14%
Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) survey 2021. Computer Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI), 12 Oct to 22 Dec 2021. Question result. ARK Research Update No.147.
 
5 May 2022 NI 30.0% 45.3% 18.7% 15.3%
Social Market Research (SMR) poll for the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool and The Irish News. On-line panel survey, 11-26 Mar 2022. Article. Report.
 
12 Dec 2021 NI 41% 49% 8% 8%
Lord Ashcroft Polls. On-line interviews, 15-18 Nov 2021. Report.
 
10 Dec 2021 RoI 63% 16% 13% 8% 47%
Ipsos/MRBI poll for The Irish Times. Newspaper results. Newspaper article.
 
29 Nov 2021 RoI 60% 25% 15% 35%
RED C poll for the Business Post. On-line panel interviews, 19-25 Nov 2021. RED C article. Report.
 
4 Nov 2021 NI 30% 59% 9% 2% 29%
Social Market Research (SMR), for the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool. On-line panel survey, 21-29 Oct 2021. Report.
 
29 Aug 2021 NI 42% 49% 9% 7%
LucidTalk on-line poll, for the Belfast Telegraph. On-line survey, 20-23 August 2021. Article.
 
10 Jun 2021 NI 30% 53% 9% 5% 23%
Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) survey 2020. Face-to-face interviews, 8 Oct to 8 Dec 2020. Question result.
 
1 May 2021 NI 35% 44% 21% 9%
1 May 2021 RoI 67% 16% 17% 9%
Kantar poll, for Belfast Telegraph, Sunday Life, Irish Independent, and Sunday Independent. On-line interviews, NI 14-22 Apr 2021, RoI 16-23 Apr 2021. BT Article.
 
20 Apr 2021 NI 43% 49% 8% 6%
20 Apr 2021 RoI 51% 27% 22% 24%
LucidTalk poll in NI and Lucid Talk / Ireland Thinks poll in RoI, for BBC NI’s Spotlight programme. Survey NI 5-7 Apr 2021, RoI 6-9 Apr 2021. Article.
 
4 Mar 2021 NI 43% 57% N/A 14%
Savanta ComRes poll for ITV News. On-line interviews, 18-22 Feb 2021. Report. ITV article.
 
24 Jan 2021 NI 42% 47% 11% 5%
LucidTalk poll for The Sunday Times. Survey 15-18 Jan 2021. Sunday Times Tweet. Report.
 
24 Feb 2020 NI 45% 47% 8% 2%
24 Feb 2020 RoI 73% 10% 17% 63%
LucidTalk for The Detail. Survey 31 Jan - 3 Feb 2020. Article.
 
18 Feb 2020 NI 29% 52% 19% 23%
Social Market Research poll for Liverpool University. Interviews 28 Dec 2019 - 11 Feb 2020. Article.
 
11 Sep 2019 NI 46% 45% 9% 1%
Lord Ashcroft Polls. On-line interviews 30 Aug - 2 Sep 2019. Article. Summary Report.
 
24 May 2019 RoI 65% 19% 15% 46%
Exit poll at European Elections carried out for RTÉ / TG4 by RED C.
 
7 Mar 2019 NI 32% 45% 23% 13%
7 Mar 2019 RoI 62% ?% ?% ?%
Ipsos Mori poll for The Irish Times. NI face-to-face interviews, 4-6 Mar 2019. Article.
 
3 Sep 2018 NI 52% 39% 9% 13%
Survey by Deltapoll for 'Our Future Our Choice' group. On-line survey 27-30 Aug 2018. BBC News item.
 
19 Jun 2018 NI 44% 49% 7% 5%
Lord Ashcroft Polls. NI on-line interviews, 4-28 May 2018. Article. Report.
 
13 Jun 2018 NI 22% 55% 10% 12% 33%
Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) survey 2017. Face-to-face interviews, 13 Sep 2017 - 6 Feb 2018. Question result.
 
8 Jun 2018 NI 42.1% 45.0% 12.7% 0.2% 2.9%
LucidTalk and YouGov poll for the BBC. On-line and telephone survey, 4-10 May 2018. BBC News item. Report.
 
21 May 2018 NI 21.1% 50.3% 18.9% 9.7% 29.2%
Ipsos MORI NI survey for QUB. Face-to-face interviews, 9 Feb - 12 Mar 2018. Report.
 
8 Dec 2017 NI 47.9% 45.4% 6.0% 0.7% 3.0%
LucidTalk poll for the EU Parliamentary Group the GUE/NGL – EU Left/Nordic Green Left. On-line survey, 1-4 Dec 2017. Report.
 
1 Nov 2017 NI 33.7% 55.4% 9.8% 1.1% 21.7%
LucidTalk. On-line survey, 20-23 Oct 2017. Report.
 
25 Jul 2017 NI 27.0% 52.7% 20.2% 25.7%
Social Market Research, NI General Election Survey 2017. Report.
 
Sep 2016 NI 28% 61% 11% 33%
LucidTalk. On-line survey, 21-23 Sep 2016. Belfast Telegraph article.
 
8 Sep 2016 NI 22% 63% 13% 2% 41%
Ipsos Mori poll for BBC NI programme The View. BBC News item.
 
5 Feb 2013 NI 17% 65% 12% 5% 48%
Ipsos Mori. BBC News item.
 

The following poll was carried out by LucidTalk on behalf of an Edinburgh-based political consultancy. The polling was intended to examine the impact of the NHS as an issue on a NI Border Poll.
Poll Question: "If a consequence of leaving the UK and reunifying Ireland is the loss of the NHS free at the point of delivery it would ..."
25 Oct 2020 NI not affect, leave UK 35.1% not affect, remain UK 33.9% don't know, not sure 2.9% Other responses 28.1% 1%
LucidTalk client-commissioned poll, 2-5 Oct 2020. LucidTalk details of poll. Article. Report.
 

Source: Based on information from Wikipedia, plus the survey organisations and media reports.

See also: Polls of Opinion and Attitude in Northern Ireland, 1973-2004, which contains some related information.

 


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