The British prime minister David Cameron has welcomed a poll which found a majority of people in Northern Ireland - including a majority of Catholics - want the North to remain within the United Kingdom.
The BBC Spotlight poll was raised with Mr Cameron in the House of Commons yesterday by the DUP MP for Lagan Valley Jeffrey Donaldson, who said that in all of the six counties of Northern Ireland, there was a clear majority that favoured retaining the North's link with Britain.
Mr Donaldson told Mr Cameron this was because "people right across Northern Ireland recognised that when it comes to being part of this United Kingdom, we are better off together".
Mr Cameron quipped that he tended to avoid reading opinion polls and hadn't seen the BBC Ipsos MORI survey of more than 1,000 people. But he added, "It looks like one that will raise the spirits of almost everyone in this House because we believe in the United Kingdom and we believe in Northern Ireland being part of that United Kingdom."
The main finding of the survey, the first to be held since Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams called for a poll on a united Ireland, was that 65 per cent of people would vote for the North to stay in the UK, while 17 per cent would vote for a united Ireland.
