Centenary poll: British identity on decline in NI with more young people identifying as Northern Irish

There is a less notable rise in those considering themselves Irish - 23% of those aged 65+ identify as Irish, compared with 35% aged between 18 and 24.

The 18-24 age group has the highest percentage of people identifying as Irish and Northern Irish, with the lowest who identify as British.

There is a huge drop off in those who consider themselves British between the 35-44 age group (35%) and those aged 25-34 (20%)

Overall, the exclusive Belfast Telegraph-Kantar poll shows a third of all people living in Northern Ireland now consider themselves Northern Irish.

One-third (33%) also consider themselves British, 28% are Irish, with the rest either not saying or unsure.

Among young people aged 18-24 the number of people who see themselves as Northern Irish hits a high of 43%. By contrast only 23% of those aged 65+ declare as Northern Irish.

The findings emerge on the day that Northern Ireland marks its centenary.

They suggest the region has moved away from its traditional orange and green binary definitions and now has a distinct third group.

Recent elections have also seen gains by the Alliance Party, which aims to attract support from across the two communities.

In a sign of the demographic shifts, the number of people identifying as Northern Irish is particularly high among younger age groups, with young people perhaps looking to shy away from the debates of the past.

The all-island Kantar poll was commissioned in association with the Sunday Life, Irish Independent and Sunday Independent.

It has also examined support for a border poll and a united Ireland, and concerns around the implications for health and wealth if partition was removed.

The latest findings examine how respondents identified themselves.

Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, people born in Northern Ireland are free to identify as British, Irish, both or neither. They are also entitled to hold British and Irish citizenship and passports.

Men (40%) currently identify considerably more as British than women (27%), with women (35%) more likely to feel Northern Irish than their male counterparts (32%).

In terms of the Irish identity, 32% of women said it best describes them, and 23% of men.

The majority of Protestants identify as British (58%) and Catholics as Irish (57%). Of Protestants, 36% feel Northern Irish as opposed to 29% of Catholics.

A tiny number (3%) of Protestants identify as Irish, with 6% of Catholics saying they are British.

People from other religious backgrounds are much more likely to feel British (35%) than Irish (16%), while most (38%) consider themselves Northern Irish.

Predictably the majority of unionists/loyalists consider themselves British (63%), with 34% declaring as Northern Irish and 3% Irish.

Among nationalists and republicans 65% report being Irish, 24% Northern Irish and 4% British.

The majority of those belonging to neither community consider themselves Northern Irish (42%), with 29% British and 17% Irish.

In Belfast city, identities are split fairly evenly between Irish (33%), British (29%) and Northern Irish (32%), reflecting the political division within the area.

In Greater Belfast the majority of people feel either British (38%) or Northern Irish (36%), with 21% identifying as Irish.

The Irish identity is the most popular in the rest of Northern Ireland (33%), with Northern Irish (31%) being more popular than British (29%).

Other findings of the poll showed that 36% of people in Northern Ireland would consider their political affiliation to be unionist and loyalist as opposed to 33% for nationalists and republicans.

With 32% saying their politics are neither, it reflects the identification results in suggesting Northern Ireland is now split into three groups.

Groups with the highest number of people who consider their politics to be neither unionist or nationalist include young people aged 25-34, those with no religion and those who consider themselves Northern Irish.

The poll also found that most people in Northern Ireland (48%) still opt for a British passport over an Irish one (26%).