A SIGNIFICANT majority in Northern Ireland favours an election to a new assembly as a pathway to all party talks, according to a poll.
The second day of the MRC (Ireland) poll for the Belfast Telegraph found that seven out of 10 people in the North supported the creation of a new elected body as "a next step towards all party negotiations on Northern Ireland's future.
Support for a new elected body was high among both Protestants and Catholics, and even among Sinn Fein supporters, a finding that is at odds with the SDLP's and Sinn Fein's staunch opposition to a new assembly.
The poll reported that more than two thirds of SDLP supporters wanted a new elected body, with half of Sinn Fein supporters favouring the idea. Only 28 per cent of Sinn Fein supporters were opposed to the assembly, according to the poll.
It found that 70 per cent of those surveyed supported the assembly proposal, while only 14 per cent were opposed. Half of those questioned believed that all party talks were likely this year, with 42 per cent believing they were unlikely.
The poll also found that if an election took place in the North now, the SDLP would gain 21 per cent of the vote, three times more than Sinn Fein, which would gain 7 per cent.
It further found that the Ulster Unionist Party would get 27 per cent of the vote, while 8 per cent would support the DUP. Support for the two fringe loyalist parties would be 4 per cent, 3 per cent for the Ulster Democratic Party, and 1 per cent for the Progressive Unionist Party.
The Alliance Party would enjoy 10 per cent support while the Conservative Party and the Workers' Party would win 3 per cent and 2 per cent of the vote respectively. The poll also found that 11 per cent of the electorate would not bother to vote.
