Blair 'right to postpone poll'

Poll suggested 15% blamed republicans for talks breakdown

More than 60% of unionists believe Tony Blair was right to postpone the Northern Ireland Assembly elections, a new poll suggests.

It also indicates that if the IRA was to disband, 76% of unionists would support the Good Friday Agreement.

The survey of 900 people was carried out by Millward Brown Ulster for the News Letter newspaper between 9-14 May.

The poll, published on Monday, suggested only 31% of nationalists believed Mr Blair was right to suspend the elections until the autumn.

The survey indicated Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble was the most popular leader among the pro-union community, despite apparent growing support for the Democratic Unionist Party.

Its leader, Ian Paisley, came third behind anti-Agreement Ulster Unionist MP Jeffrey Donaldson, in a survey of the most popular politicians.

The poll suggested 57% of unionists would support the restoration of devolution if the IRA issued a statement vowing never to use its weapons again.

However, just 27% of unionists would favour the return of the power-sharing institutions without such a commitment from the IRA, the poll suggested.

'Breakdown of negotiations'

While the poll indicated that 88% of nationalists believed Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness genuinely sought an end to all IRA activity, 28% of unionists took that view.

The survey suggested 54% of nationalists were fairly satisfied with the new policing arrangements, compared to 42% of unionists.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted for the Irish Times newspaper suggested 45% of voters believed the IRA had not made its intentions clear on the ending of its paramilitary activity.

However, the poll - also published on Monday - indicated only 15% blamed the republican movement for the breakdown of negotiations.

It also suggested 35% of voters did not blame the UUP for the breakdown.

The poll was conducted among 1,000 voters at 100 locations throughout the Republic of Ireland's 42 constituencies.