Deciding on Borders: Preparing for a Northern Ireland Border Poll

There is a high chance that a referendum on the status of Northern Ireland – a so-called ‘border poll’ – will take place at some point in the coming years. Indeed, the Good Friday Agreement requires such a vote in some circumstances. But nowhere has the process involved been worked out – despite the fact that how any such referendum is conducted and how it fits into broader decision-making processes could be enormously consequential. This project will bring together leading political scientists and legal scholars based in Belfast, Dublin and London to examine these issues in detail, drawing on existing expertise, close engagement with policy-makers and relevant international research.

Principal Investigator: Dr Alan Renwick, University College London