One in five people said there should never be a referendum on the border. Picture by Rui Vieira/PA Wire

JUST a third of people in Northern Ireland would vote for Irish unity if there was a referendum tomorrow, a new opinion poll suggests.

But the same survey found that a majority want a border poll, with nearly half believing it should happen within the next five years.

Almost one in five respondents to the latest LucidTalk Tracker Poll said there should never be a referendum on the border.

More than half of unionists questioned completely rejected the notion of a referendum on the north's constitutional position but 80 per cent of nationalists want a border poll within five years.

Just days after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said a simple majority in referendums north and south may not be enough to secure a united Ireland, the survey also asked what the "winning point" in a border poll should be.

A slight majority of people backed the idea of '50 per cent plus one', whereas almost 20 per cent said a vote on unification should be weighted so that a majority of two-thirds was necessary for victory.

A majority of unionists advocated a 70 per cent threshold, while nearly 90 per cent of nationalists favoured 50 per cent plus one.

Asked if there was a border poll tomorrow, 55 per cent said they wanted to remain in the UK.

Some 33.7 per cent said they would vote for Irish reunification, while one in 10 were undecided,.

There were 2,080 full responses to the survey, which has a +3 or -3 per cent margin of error.