A placard at an anti-Brexit demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament in London.

A placard at an anti-Brexit demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament in London.

OVER HALF OF people in Northern Ireland would vote for Irish unity if and when Britain leaves the European Union, according to a new opinion poll.

Just over half of people surveyed (52%) said Brexit would lead to them supporting a united Ireland, while 39% would want Northern Ireland to remain in the UK.

A representative sample of 1,199 people from Northern Ireland were interviewed for the poll, which was carried out between 27 August and 30 August.

The online poll was conducted by Deltapoll on behalf of anti-Brexit campaign groups Our Future Our Choice and Best for Britain.

Hard border

Support for Irish reunification increases to 56% in the event of a hard border post-Brexit, the poll states.

If Britain doesn’t leave the EU, 52% of people surveyed would support Northern Ireland remaining in the UK , while 35% would be in favour of united Ireland.

When Scottish voters were surveyed by the same company almost half (47%) said they would vote for independence if Brexit comes to pass, while 43% said they would vote for Scotland to remain part of Britain.