ARINS is a joint research initiative of the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) and the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

The examination of public opinion is a collaboration between ARINS and The Irish Times. The findings of the annual surveys have been published every year since 2022 as part of the North and South series in the Irish Times.

This year, the research was based on a combination of large-scale representative surveys and smaller-scale deliberative forums in which broadly representative samples of the population, both North and South, were brought together to discuss a potential future referendum on the choice between Irish unification and remaining in the UK.

The research team includes Professor John Garry, from Politics and International Relations at Queen’s; Professor Brendan O’Leary, from the University of Pennsylvania and Honorary Professor of Politics at Queen’s; Dr Jamie Pow, from Politics and International Relations at Queen’s; and Dr Dawn Walsh, from University College Dublin.

Professor Garry said: “Members of the audience were particularly interested in discussing the potential of deliberative forums to bring people together to discuss sensitive issues in a courteous and constructive way.”

Professor O’Leary presented a summary of the findings followed by a panel discussion involving all four of the research team.

Professor O'Leary said: "Our findings show that even among those opposed to Irish unification there is an openness to planning for its possibility.

“We also now know, that if unification happened, then the best way to organise the central Government of a united Ireland that would attract least opposition across all three relevant groups - Northern Protestants, Northern Catholics, and Southerners - is what we call “an inclusive coalition.”

The event was hosted in partnership by ARINS and the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s. Professors Garry and O’Leary are also Fellows at the Mitchell Institute, and Dr Susie Deedigan, the ARINS Programme Manager at Queen’s, is based at the Mitchell Institute.

“We're delighted to have recently opened an ARINS office in Belfast which means more events will be held in Queen's and across Northern Ireland in the coming years,” said Ruth Hegarty, a founder of ARINS, Royal Irish Academy.

Find out more about the project in the ARINS podcast, available here:  https://open.spotify.com/episode/2XRzTH5Vubh8Zt0RLGuqFJ

 

Media

Media enquiries to Zara McBrearty on email: z.mcbrearty@qub.ac.uk