More than half of NI voters back UK rejoining EU - poll

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More than half of voters in Northern Ireland believe the UK should rejoin the European Union a decade after the Brexit referendum, a new opinion poll has suggested.

More than half of voters in Northern Ireland believe the UK should rejoin the European Union a decade after the Brexit referendum, a new opinion poll has suggested.

More than three-quarters of respondents to the new Queen's University Belfast poll also welcome the prospect of an upcoming EU-UK summit agreeing to reduce checks and controls on goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.

The results of the latest public opinion polling, conducted for the university by LucidTalk, also indicate that support for the Windsor Framework continues to weaken, with 45% regarding it as "on balance a good thing for Northern Ireland," the lowest level since June 2021.

Only 44% of respondents to the poll believe the Windsor Framework is an appropriate means of managing the effects of Brexit on the region, a decline from 60% in February 2024.

The academics behind the poll said the findings highlight continuing divisions over the post-Brexit settlement and growing concerns about its economic, constitutional and political consequences.

The Windsor Framework is the post-Brexit deal between the UK and the EU aimed at reducing trading frictions between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Next week Prime Minister Andy Burnham will travel to Brussels for a UK-EU summit where he is expected to sign new agreements on food and energy.

The Queen’s University report is the 16th in the Testing The Temperature series examining views on Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol/Windsor Framework led by Professor David Phinnemore and Professor Katy Hayward.

The latest poll was conducted between 23-26 October, using a weighted sample of 1,050 respondents from across Northern Ireland.

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