Majority of Irish People Are Not Ready for a United Ireland

A cross border survey has found that only 36% of the people in the Republic of Ireland would like to see a united Ireland in the “short to medium” term.

The findings come from a survey of 2,000 individuals on both sides of the border for the Irish news channel RTE and BBC Northern Ireland. The survey was commissioned as part of the celebrations of the centenery of the 1916 Easter Rising.

The rising led to a war of independence, which led to the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922 and the Republic of Ireland in 1949. Northern Ireland remained a part of the United Kingdom against the wishes of a majority of Irish people.

In Northern Ireland 13% of those polled wanted to see a united Ireland in the short to medium term. Only 3% of Protestants polled in Northern Ireland wanted to see a united Ireland in the short term compared to 27% of Catholics.

A much greater proportion of people supported the idea of a united Ireland in their lifetime. The figures in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland were 30% and 66% respectively.