A MAJORITY of Northern Irish voters support the Northern Ireland protocol in the Brexit deal signed between the UK and the EU with backing growing for the measure, according to a new poll.
The results of the survey will prove embarrassing to Boris Johnson whose ministers have introduction highly controversial legislation in the Commons to over-ride parts of the legal mechanism agreed by the two sides designed to prevent the return to a hard border in Ireland.
MPs backed the bill in a vote in the Commons on Monday night despite the prospect of trade tariffs being imposed on the UK following court action.
Earlier this month the EU announced it was raising a legal challenge and renewing a previously paused legal case against the UK Government for failing to implement the protocol and by taking the decision to unilaterally suspend parts of it.
The results of the poll will also prove awkward for the Democratic Unionist Party which opposes the protocol and in protest is refusing to sit in Stormont meaning a new devolved executive has not been appointed since the May election which saw Sinn Fein become the biggest party for the first time.
The survey by Lucid Talk on behalf of Queen’s University Belfast, reveals that 55% of those questioned view the protocol as being appropriate for managing the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland - up from 47% in 2021, while 38% disagree.
Some 55% of respondents also believe the protocol has positive economic consequences for Northern Ireland while 65% think that it offers unique economic opportunities which could benefit Northern Ireland.
The greatest concerns are for its political implications – with 59% seeing the protocol as having a negative impact on political stability and on British-Irish relations. However, the proportion thinking that the protocol weakens Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom, including the UK internal market, has fallen to 46%, less than in previous polls.
Respondents to the poll were asked six sets of questions on attitudes towards Brexit and the Protocol.
Key findings include:
* Just over a third (36%) of respondents have no concerns about the full operational scope and impact of the Protocol.
* The UK Government is by far the most distrusted (84% distrust, 55% strongly so) and least trusted of all actors. Just 5% of respondents trusted the UK Government.
* Voters in Northern Ireland are more inclined to trust (47%) than distrust (43%) the European Commission/EU.
* A majority of respondents (57%) do not think the UK Government is justified in taking unilateral action to suspend elements of the Protocol and 55% think that the EU would be justified in retaliating against such measures.
* A clear majority of respondents (74%) would prefer to see the UK and the EU reaching an agreement on the Protocol's implementation than the UK take unilateral action.
* Just over half of respondents (52%) favour MLAs voting for the continued application of the Protocol.
The long negotiated protocol keeps Northern Ireland more closely aligned with EU standards and was agreed by Boris Johnson and the European Commission as a way of preventing customs checks and border infrastructure between the province and the Irish Republic in keeping with the Good Friday Agreement which brought about the end of the Troubles.
Instead, in a bid to protect the European single market the two sides agreed that checks would be carried out on goods travelling between Britain and Northern Ireland. The move was rejected by the DUP who insist the mechanism undermines Northern Ireland's position in the UK.
Professor David Phinnemore from the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queen’s, which commissioned the poll said: "This latest poll also shows support for the Protocol edging upwards and almost two-thirds of respondents seeing economic opportunities in it. Also it’s clear that voters would much prefer outstanding issues between the UK and the EU to be resolved through agreement and not unilateral action by the UK government.”
Some 1497 voters in Northern Ireland took part in the poll which was conducted from June 3 to 6. It is the fifth in a series of polls conducted for researchers at QUB as part of a three-year project.
