Northern Ireland to oppose leaving UK to form united Ireland: Poll

A recent poll published in a newspaper in England showed that the majority of people in Northern Ireland would vote to stay with the United Kingdom if a referendum were held tomorrow. According to reports, the poll was conducted by Liverpool University and Britain’s Economic and Social Research Council and it showed that Irish unity was supported by just 29% of voters, while the majority of 52% voted to stay with the United Kingdom. As per reports, the poll took the opinion of 2,000 people. 

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Out of the 2,000 people who took part in the poll, 19% of them said they did not know how they would vote, which means that the figures excluding them would show 65% in favour of staying in the United Kingdom. As per reports, the recent survey showed a 2% increase in the people who voted for Irish unity since the last poll that was conducted in 2017. If the trend continues and the number of supporters for pro-Irish unification increases at the same rate, it would take 20 years to gain a full majority for the united Ireland movement.  

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Northern Ireland-United Kingdom conflict

Ireland suffered from decades of violence between Catholic nationalists, who were seeking to leave the United Kingdom to merge with Ireland and Protestant unionists, who wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom. The violence ended with a deal between Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom in 1998 that is also known as the Good Friday peace agreement which states that the British government can call for a referendum if a 'yes' majority looks likely. 

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The recent poll came days after the United Kingdom officially left the European Union to enter the one-year transition period with the bloc. The Brexit vote had left the people divided as two out of the four nations that form the United Kingdom voted against leaving the European Union and Northern Ireland was among the nations that voted against it. 

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(With inputs from agencies)