The majority of people in Britain are now in favour of Irish unification.
A new State of the Union survey has examined public attitudes on the constitutional future of the UK.
The research shows the majority of people in England, Scotland and Wales all now support the reunification of Ireland.
The researchers asked respondents to locate their views on independence, or reunification in Northern Ireland's case, on a -10 to +10 scale, instead of a simple 'Yes/No' answer.
Asked if Northern Ireland should unite with the Republic, people in Scotland came out the strongest in favour at +1.9.
People in England came in second at +0.9 and Welsh voters said they would be +0.6 in favour.
Attitudes in Northern Ireland itself fall very near the midpoint at +0.3.
Image: The Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of WalesCommentator and historian Dr Ruth Dudley told Newstalk Breakfast the research doesn't reflect the real world.
"I thought it was very good research, I thought it was very intelligently presented," she said.
"But the thing about it is that it's not in the real world.
"What comes out of it for me is that, as usual, everybody's blaming the English who actually pick up the tabs.
"The Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish don't think they get enough money and the English sigh resignedly about always being abused and attacked".
Scotland fans make their feelings known about independence at a Euro Qualifier in Germany in September 2014. Image: Cal Sport Media/SIPA USA/PA ImagesDr Dudley said there is no momentum behind the research, pointing to the failed Scottish independence vote of 2014.
"You have to think there was a very romantic period when [Nicola] Sturgeon was riding high, and the Scots and the Irish were getting together and saying, 'Won't it be wonderful and we'll have some sort of empire of Celtic nations'," she said.
"That's collapsed in ruins in Scotland, who the hell wants Scottish independence at the moment?
"How could they survive?"
Dr Dudley suggested any 'great border' between England and Scotland would see the Scottish people "rattling for pennies".
'The English have a duty'
Asked if the survey shows that people in Britain don't care about Northern Ireland, Dr Dudley said there is an indifference.
"The English have a duty towards them and will continue to do that," she said.
"An awful lot of English soldiers died in Northern Ireland, don't forget.
"While they don't have very strong views on it - and they would be perfectly happy if the Northern Ireland voted to go into a united Ireland - but they're not going to push it in any way at all.
"They just want everybody to shut up and be peaceful."
'The South doesn't want it'
Dr Dudley also suggested that there is no real appetite for reunification in the Republic.
"All the other polls I read essentially show the South doesn't want it," she said.
It may claim to in certain polls but any of the people I talk to in the South are saying, 'We've got a country down here that we're very happy [with] and we don't want it messed up with all these Nordies'".
She said that there is "utter acceptance" of an indifference to Northern Ireland from Britain but that England would "stump up" when there's a crunch.
The research found if support for independence of UK regions, or reunification in Northern Ireland's case, is combined with "ambivalent unionists", the majority are not committed to the current "territorial integrity" of the UK.
