Almost half of DUP and UUP supporters - 45% and 44% respectively - are against Sinn Fein sitting in the House of Commons

Unionists are more opposed than nationalists to Sinn Fein MPs taking their seats at Westminster, according to the study.

Almost half of DUP and UUP supporters - 45% and 44% respectively - are against Sinn Fein sitting in the House of Commons.

But only 29% of Sinn Fein voters back the party's abstentionist policy with almost twice as many (53%) believing it should take its seats.

Around 2,000 voters here were interviewed for the University of Liverpool-led project.

Election pacts were popular in both communities, but particularly with unionists. Half of DUP supporters voiced their approval of pacts, with a fifth against them.

Support was much higher with Ulster Unionist voters whose party has the most to gain from alliances. Almost three-quarters (71%) supported pacts with just 12% opposed.

Nationalists were cooler on deals at election time, although more were for than against them.

Forty per cent of Sinn Fein voters backed election alliances with 29% opposed; 45% of SDLP supporters approved of them with 21% against.

Asked if they would care if a close relative married someone of a different religion, DUP voters were most likely to mind "a lot" - 15% compared to 10% of UUP and Sinn Fein voters, 5% of Alliance and 4% of SDLP voters.

But Sinn Fein voters were most likely to mind a lot or a little - 42% compared to 40% of DUP voters, 38% of UUP voters, 26% of SDLP voters and 22% of Alliance voters.

More than half (51%) of voters supported the legalisation of same-sex marriage (51%) with under a quarter (24%) opposed.

The law change was backed by voters for every major political party here, although it was more popular with nationalists than unionists.

DUP voters backed it 43% to 40%; UUP supporters 40% to 39%; Sinn Fein voters 52% to 29%; Alliance voters 59% to 17%; and SDLP supporters were the most liberal on 63% to 17%.

Regarding abortion, a third of voters believed it should be legal only when the mother's life was in danger. Almost a fifth (19%) want it up to 12 weeks, and another 10% up to either 24 or 28 weeks.

Sinn Fein voters were almost as conservative as DUP ones - 53% supported abortion only when the mother's life was at risk compared to 54% DUP, 42% SDLP, 34% Alliance and 25% of UUP voters who were the most liberal.

But abortion was a major election issue for only 3% of voters in December's poll compared to Brexit (23%) and the NHS (22%).

The electorate divided equally on academic selection with 36% supporting the transfer test and the same number opposing it.

Almost half of voters said they would send their children to a mixed-religion school, with a third preferring a single-religion one.

There was 43% support for a truth and reconciliation commission with only 16% opposition. Half of voters were against an amnesty for Troubles-related violence, with just 14% backing one.

Concern was expressed about immigration with almost half (46%) of voters saying it had not helped the local economy and society, and just a quarter saying it had.

On Brexit, DUP voters did not want a hard border with less than a third supporting even North-South customs checks on goods. Although an Irish Sea border may be seen as a step on the road to a united Ireland, only a third of Sinn Fein voters backed one.

Belfast Telegraph