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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Brendan Hughes

Good Friday Agreement poll: 75% want Stormont power-sharing rules reviewed

Three-quarters of people believe power-sharing rules established under the Good Friday Agreement should be reviewed, according to a Belfast Live online poll.

Just over half think the 1998 peace deal which largely ended the violence of the Troubles would be approved if a referendum was held today.

But 76.8% said the agreement has made Northern Ireland a "better place", compared to 19.2% who disagreed and 4% who were unsure.

Read more: DUP candidate criticised over 'shocking' anti-immigration tweets

More than 830 votes were cast in the survey, which ran on Belfast Live in recent weeks as part of coverage of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Asked if Stormont power-sharing rules established after the agreement should be reviewed, 75.2% said Yes, 18.7% said No and 6.1% did not know.

Some 54.4% said they believed the agreement would be approved if a referendum was held today, compared to 31.6% who said it would not and 14% were unsure.

Asked if the Good Friday Agreement has been a "success", 60% said Yes, 32.7% said No and 7.3% did not know.

A series of events have been held in Northern Ireland this month commemorating the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

US president Joe Biden visited Belfast last week to mark the occasion, while this week a major three-day conference was held at Queen's University involving global political figures.

The anniversary comes at a time when Stormont's devolved institutions established after the agreement have collapsed, as the DUP is blocking them in protest against Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.

It has been able to stop the Executive and Assembly operating as the power-sharing structures require cross-community support from nationalists and unionists to function.

The UK and European recently agreed the Windsor Framework in a bid to reduce barriers to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland created under the protocol.

While the DUP says the framework has gone some way to address its concerns about the protocol, it says significant issues remain.

During his speech at the Agreement 25 conference at Queen's, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said restoring power-sharing in Northern Ireland is the "right thing" to do for the future of the Union.

Addressing unionist political representatives, Mr Sunak said: "I urge you to work with us to get Stormont up and running again.

"That’s the right thing to do in its own terms. I'm convinced it's also the right thing to do for our Union."

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson responded later saying Stormont's "damaged foundations" must have unionist as well as nationalist support for sustainable devolved government.

"We seek to re-establish the Northern Ireland Assembly by finishing the job of fully restoring Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom," he said in a statement.

He added: "We must get the foundations right. Short-term fixes will lead to short-term devolution and will do a disservice to those trying to make the institutions work."

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