Almost two thirds of NI people 'comfortable with same-sex marriage', survey suggests

Almost two thirds of people in Northern Ireland would feel comfortable if a family member had a same-sex marriage, a new survey suggests.

About 2,000 people in both NI and the Republic of Ireland were interviewed about issues from national identity to abortion and same-sex marriage.

The survey was jointly commissioned by BBC Northern Ireland and Irish state broadcaster, RTÉ.

On Monday, a majority of MLAs in the NI Assembly voted for same-sex marriage.

This was a first for Northern Ireland.

However, the motion was blocked by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) which tabled what is known as a petition of concern.

Next week, the first of two legal challenges to the Northern Ireland Executive on same-sex marriage is due to reach the courts.

Last week, same sex-marriage officially became lawful in the Irish Republic, after more than 60% of voters backed it in a referendum held in May.

According to the cross-border survey, carried out by the polling company B&A, attitudes towards same sex-marriage appear remarkably similar on either side of the border.

In Northern Ireland, 64% of those surveyed said they would feel very or fairly comfortable if a member of their family married someone of the same gender, while 23% indicated they would feel very or fairly uncomfortable.

In the Republic of Ireland, a slightly higher proportion, 67%, indicated they would feel comfortable but 21% said they would be uncomfortable.

The survey was conducted last month.