Almost two thirds of NI people 'comfortable with same-sex marriage', survey suggests
- Published
Almost two thirds of people in Northern Ireland would feel comfortable if a family member had a same-sex marriage, a new survey suggests.
About 2,000 people in both NI and the Republic of Ireland were interviewed about issues from national identity to abortion and same-sex marriage.
The survey was jointly commissioned by BBC Northern Ireland and Irish state broadcaster, RTÉ.
On Monday, a majority of MLAs in the NI Assembly voted for same-sex marriage.
This was a first for Northern Ireland.
However, the motion was blocked by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) which tabled what is known as a petition of concern.
Next week, the first of two legal challenges to the Northern Ireland Executive on same-sex marriage is due to reach the courts.
Last week, same sex-marriage officially became lawful in the Irish Republic, after more than 60% of voters backed it in a referendum held in May.
According to the cross-border survey, carried out by the polling company B&A, attitudes towards same sex-marriage appear remarkably similar on either side of the border.
In Northern Ireland, 64% of those surveyed said they would feel very or fairly comfortable if a member of their family married someone of the same gender, while 23% indicated they would feel very or fairly uncomfortable.
In the Republic of Ireland, a slightly higher proportion, 67%, indicated they would feel comfortable but 21% said they would be uncomfortable.
The survey was conducted last month.
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