Just one-third of people in Britain want to see Northern Ireland remain part of the UK.

A new YouGov poll  shows that 18% of people in England, Scotland and Wales are strongly in favour of Irish unity – while 44% do not care and believe the issue should be decided by people in Northern Ireland.

Some 18% of people are strongly in favour of reunification with the Republic of Ireland, while 44% would not care and think it should be decided by people in Northern Ireland.  

When asked a simple ‘stay in the UK or join the rest of Ireland’ question, 40% of respondents said Northern Ireland should leave the UK while 34% said it should remain.

Belfast Newsletter Editor Ben Lowry told Newstalk Breakfast the apathy towards Northern Ireland is “not a terrible surprise”.  

“There's a lot of people in UK," he said. "It's a very large place, a diverse place. A lot of people don't really think about Northern Ireland.”

He said many people already consider Northern Ireland as part of Ireland rather than part of the UK.

EMBARGOED TO 0001 SUNDAY DECEMBER 27 File photo dated 12/03/19 of a bullet riddled welcome to Northern Ireland sign on the border between Derrylin, Co Fermanagh and Ballyconnell, Co Cavan.

Mr Lowry said other unionists must “be aware of the various vulnerabilities of the union's position”.

“The sense of Northern Ireland being a difficult place - that causes people to shut off,” he said.

Northern Ireland as "part of the nation"

Mr Lowry disagreed with a statement made by former Stormont Speaker Lord John Alderdice, who said, “Britain is already emotionally detached from Northern Ireland”, and “it’s all over, bar the shouting”.

He said people might be detached from Northern Ireland, but larger trends point to continued support for Northern Ireland’s position in Britain.

“The Social Attitudes polls since the 1980s also finds very high levels of indifference in Britain, but it's been moving towards a sense of Northern Ireland as part of the nation,” he said.

“As the Troubles have receded and as tourism in Northern Ireland has increased... there's been an increase very slight in support and people in the rest of the UK want Northern Ireland to stay.”

He warned, however, that any unionists who “smugly” think Northern Ireland’s position in the UK is strong are mistaken, according to Mr Lowry

“But [Lord Alderdice’s] comments could be interpreted as saying that things are terrible and the union's over and it's all a movement away - I think that's wrong as well,” he said.  

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