Irish unification: DUP MP Sammy Wilson welcomes Irish Times IPSOS poll finding that only 26% want unity

However, the opinion poll also shows there is a majority of more than four to one in favour of unity in the Republic.

The findings are contained in twin opinion polls carried out on either side of the border for the paper and the Arins Project by Ipsos for a new research project into north-south relations and political views on the future of the island.

The two polls were carried out among more than 1,000 voters in Northern Ireland and the Republic in August and September of this year.

Half of all respondents (50 per cent) in Northern Ireland said they would vote against Irish unity, which included 21 per cent of those from a Catholic background.

Just over a quarter (26 per cent) in the North said they would vote for unity, while 19 per cent said they didn’t know how they would vote and 5 per cent said they would not vote.

Among Protestant respondents in Northern Ireland, 78% were opposed to unity.

Among respondents in the Republic, 66% said they would vote for unity, with just 16% against and 13% do not knows.

The polls showed majorities on both sides of the border in favour of holding a unity referendum.

By comparison, the Life and Times Survey, which has been running regularly since 1998, has found the proportion of those favouring Irish unity has ranged from 30% in 2006, all the way down to 14% in 2015 (with the average being 20.4%). It was set up by the Province’s two main universities.

East Antrim DUP MP responded that all opinion polls have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

"They usually prove to be a fair bit out when it comes to the reality of voting patterns," he told the News Letter.

"It doesn't surprise me, however, that of those who would actually cast a vote in Northern Ireland, that two thirds would stay within the UK and only a third would decide to leave the UK.

"Because I think that whether people are from a unionist background or a nationalist background - Catholic or Protestant - the economic benefits of being part of the union ares becoming more and more apparent."

That is always going to be the case, he said.

"It has always been my view that there are two sets of unionists in Northern Ireland;- Traditional unionists such as myself who support the union because of history, emotional and cultural attachment and then those in both unionist and nationalist camps

who recognise the economic benefits of the union.

"If you just look at the recent difficulties we have gone through with Covid and the Cost of Living Crisis it is quite clear that being part of the fifth biggest economy in the world has got its benefits."

He suggested that those in the Republic of Ireland who supported unification probably did so "without too much thought of the cost to the Republic".

He said that many republicans have a "pipe dream" that republicans can "have their cake and eat it" and that the UK government would continue to finance Northern Ireland after it has been handed to the Republic.

"And of course that is just not going to happen.

The MP would always be "very confident" of winning a referendum in NI, he said, because "so many people who vote for nationalist parties would vote for the union".

However he added that the track record in Scotland shows that starting referenda on leaving the UK "only destabilises a country".

He added: "In Scotland you now have an obsession with the next referendum at the expense of dealing with the real problems that they have about alcohol and drugs abuse, poor educational standards, difficulties with policing and with the health service. And I have no doubt the same thing would happen in Northern Ireland if we did the same here."