![\"Stock](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_01K88Z3PBTBF7818Q9VZWAY24B.jpg\")
Stock image of a Union flag and EU flag outside the Houses of Parliament, London.(Image: Steve Parsons\/PA Wire)<\/p>\nMore than 60% of respondents said they believe Brexit is on balance a bad thing for Northern IrelandStock image of a Union flag and EU flag outside the Houses of Parliament, London.(Image: Steve Parsons\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n
Support for the Windsor Framework is weakening in Northern Ireland, a new poll has suggested.<\/p>\n
In the report from Queen\u2019s University Belfast<\/a>, 48% of respondents regard the framework as \u201con balance a good thing for Northern Ireland\u201d, the lowest level since June 2021. The poll also states that opposition to the arrangements has remained static, at 36% of respondents.<\/p>\n The framework, agreed between the UK and the EU in 2023, amended the Northern Ireland Protocol<\/a> and governs post-Brexit trading arrangements in the region. Northern Ireland continues to follow many EU trade and customs rules to ensure no hardening of the Irish land border.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Post-Brexit arrangements “insufficiently understood” in Northern Ireland, peers find<\/a>READ MORE: MLAs write to UK Government to raise concerns about Fujitsu contracts<\/a><\/p>\n The report said that just over half of voters (52%) view the framework as an appropriate way to manage the effects of Brexit<\/a>. This is below the 60% support levels of February 2024 but higher than the 35% who think it is not appropriate.<\/p>\n More than 60% of respondents said they believe that Brexit is on balance a bad thing for Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n The research was carried out by Professor David Phinnemore and Professor Katy Hayward, from Queen\u2019s, and is the 14th in the \u201cTesting the Temperature\u201d series on voters\u2019 views on Brexit and the Protocol\/Windsor Framework.<\/p>\n The latest poll, conducted by LucidTalk for Queen\u2019s between October 3-6, used a weighted sample of 1,201 respondents from across Northern Ireland. The survey is the first to be conducted since the UK-EU Summit in May.<\/p>\n It found that voters in Northern Ireland are most supportive of UK-EU plans for closer cooperation on health security and on an EU-UK agreement on agri-food. It also tested public opinion on the recommendations of the Review of the Windsor Framework by Lord Murphy.<\/p>\n The most popular priority was for the UK Government to reduce frictions on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland (ranked first or second by 44% of respondents).<\/p>\n Another 38% of voters prioritised encouraging the UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive to highlight the commercial benefits of dual market access for local manufacturers.<\/p>\n This relates to the finding that 61% believe the Windsor Framework offers unique economic opportunities for the region \u2013 a figure that is down from 68% in June 2024.<\/p>\n Prof Phinnemore said: \u201cSupport for the Windsor Framework has weakened, although a majority of voters still believe it provides opportunities which could benefit Northern Ireland economically.<\/p>\n \u201cOf the recommendations from Lord Murphy\u2019s recent review of the Windsor Framework, the main priority for voters are an SPS agreement to reduce frictions on GB-NI goods movements and greater government efforts to emphasise and publicise commercial benefits of dual market access.\u201d<\/p>\n Prof Hayward said: \u201cThere are broadly three groups of opinions: those against the Windsor Framework in principle, those for it in principle, and those who accept it as a compromise but are alert to both difficulties and opportunities it might give rise to.<\/p>\n \u201cSince our last poll in April there have been proposals to address difficulties and increase opportunities \u2013 most notably relating to the UK-EU \u2018reset\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cThis poll is one indication of why there is an urgent need for progress on these.\u201d<\/p>\n The new survey also suggests more voters see the impact of the Windsor Framework on Northern Ireland\u2019s place in the UK internal market as negative (44%) rather than positive (29%) \u2013 a reversal of the situation in February 2024 (41% positive, 34% negative).<\/p>\n While more voters continue to see its effect on political stability in Northern Ireland as negative (42%) rather than positive (35%), this gap has narrowed since October 2023 (55% negative, 26% positive).<\/p>\n Sign up here for our Party Lines newsletter<\/a> and get the latest political analysis and headlines from Belfast Live’s Political Reporter James McCarthy direct to your inbox twice a week.<\/p>\n For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage<\/strong> here<\/a> and sign up to our politics newsletter<\/a> here.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 60% of respondents said they believe Brexit is on balance a bad thing for Northern IrelandStock…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,1144,285,41386,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-523434","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-northern-ireland","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-queens-university","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115426294918510785","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_JS343541892-1.jpg\")
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