The people of Northern Ireland are divided on whether religious divisions have become less deep 20 years on from the Good Friday Agreement, a Sky Data poll has found.

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On topics such as abortion, gay marriage and religion, Northern Ireland is a nation very much divided.

Half of Northern Irish people - 50% - think divisions between Catholics and Protestants are less deep now than they were at the time of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, while 47% think they are the same (23%) or are deeper (24%).


And 51% think Brexit has made divisions deeper, with 39% saying it has made no difference, and 4% saying it has made divisions less deep.

Northern Ireland voted to remain within the EU with 55.8% of voters wanting to stay.

People are worried about the future of the system of government set up by the Good Friday Agreement - whereby the two largest parties must agree a power-sharing deal - with 47% saying it will work badly in the future, against 28% who expect it to work well.

No power-sharing deal has been agreed since January 2017 - and only 17% expect a deal to be struck within a year, while 23% don't ever expect another deal.

People do feel safer now than 20 years ago, but there is still a proportion of who say there hasn't really been any change, and a smaller proportion who feel less safe than they did.

Sinn Fein voters feel more of a difference than supporters of the DUP, though a majority of both think it is safer now than in 1998.

People from their own religious group still make up the majority of people's close friends for the majority of Northern Irish people.

But there has certainly been a change over the last 20 years on social issues such as abortion and gay marriage - the majority of Northern Irish now support legalising both.

Abortions are not legal in Northern Ireland unless there are very specific circumstances.

It is only permitted in order to preserve the life of the woman.

Same-sex marriage is not legal in Northern Ireland, despite the matter being voted on five times since 2012.

One successful vote to legalise it in the Northern Ireland Assembly was vetoed by the DUP.