The two main parties have been at loggerheads for most of the year.

New polling has revealed just what DUP and Sinn Fein voters think of their respective parties' stance on the current political impasse.

Polling experts LucidTalk run a series of tracker polls to gauge public opinion across a wide-range of issues. Its over 10,000 strong panel of people are asked a range of questions with the results boiled down to 2,080 responses to get a representative sample of Northern Ireland public opinion.

Polling was carried out by the Belfast-based polling company over an 80 hour period between September 8 and September 11.

Sinn Fein has consistently said it will not return to the Executive unless there is an Irish language act.

LucidTalk polling reveals over 70% of nationalist voters back the party in its demand with 55% saying they could not support the party if it dropped its red line.

For DUP voters over 86% back the party in its stance on opposing an Irish language act. When asked if they would support the party if it dropped its opposition, 50% said they couldn't support it.

Of all the recipients, when asked if they understood, or partially understood, what an Irish language act entailed, over 75% said yes.

The latest polling also suggests support for the DUP and Sinn Fein is growing. The DUP has had over 7% more support, the survey predicts, than at the time of the Assembly election in March. With Sinn Fein experiencing a jump of just over 3%.

And on the question of if the Executive should be reformed, 52% said yes; 19% said a form of temporary direct rule should be imposed to allow more talks while 6% said it should be permanent. Another 20% said a form of joint authority between Dublin and London should be implemented.

On the question of if same-sex marriage should be legalised, 60% agreed there should be a change on the statute books. Over half of unionists (56%) said the law should remain unchanged.

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Belfast Telegraph