Pro-neutrality students outside Queen’s Students’ Union in Belfast after the results were announced

A referendum on Irish unity demanded by Sinn Fein at Queen's University has failed because it could not attract enough voters.

Students also voted overwhelmingly to keep the Students' Union politically neutral on the constitutional question in a counter referendum.

Unionists greeted the loss as a humiliation for Sinn Fein.

However, the students behind the united Ireland campaign said they would consider campaigning again in the future.

The two proposals put to students were:

Should Ireland be a united and independent country?

This Students' Union is a shared space that is inclusive for all students and should therefore have a neutral stance on the constitutional position of Northern Ireland - do you agree with this statement?

The official policy of the Students' Union will now be one of neutrality after some 2,596 students voted in favour of it, with 409 students against it.

However, it was a much closer call on the United Ireland vote as 1,264 students voted for the Sinn Fein motion that the SU becomes pro-Irish unity, with 1,285 votes against it.

In order to become official SU policy both campaigns needed to secure 10% - 2,335 votes - from the student body.

Student and neutrality vote organiser Cathy Corbett was jubilant with the outcome.

"Our student body can be so proud of themselves today that they didn't allow a political agenda or Sinn Fein to overrule the fact that our Students' Union is for all," she said.

"Our vote was won by two to one today and has ensured that our Students' Union will remain representative of everyone here."

Third year student Sean Fearon, chair of Sinn Fein at Queen's, was disappointed at the outcome of the vote.

But he said he believed that it still had accomplished something important.

He said: "We are obviously disappointed at the outcome but there were 2,400 students who got the opportunity to give their opinion on Irish unity and that was the genesis of the debate.

"It's hard to take a 51% to 49% split, but we have got the chance to show that we can talk about the united Ireland debate with maturity and respect."

Mature law student and pro-neutrality campaigner Richard Garland added: "I feel that we have sent a message to our senior politicians that dinosaur politics are a thing of the past. The young generation reject their sectarian politics and I now hope that we can all move forward together."

The polls were open between 7am to 5pm yesterday for all undergraduates and postgraduate students at Queen's.

Traditionally, the SU has never taken a stance on whether there should be a united Ireland or whether Northern Ireland should remain within the Union.

Chair of the Young Unionists at Queen's Sky Aughey described the result as "excellent news".

Belfast Telegraph