Even Protestants don’t support parades and protests: #LucidTalk

More figures from LucidTalk in the Belfast Telegraph, this time on Parades.

Respondents were asked which statements they agreed most closely with (results given as percentages):

If you exclude don’t knows, you get the following results (results given as percentages):

And, if pie-charts are your thing, here’s charts for the first three groups excluding don’t knows:

… and Protestants (excluding don’t knows)…

 

… and Catholics (excluding don’t knows)…

As to the poll itself, the stats provided state that:

Our LucidTalk poll of 1,222 people across Northern Ireland suggests that, while none of them will be easy, parading may be the area where consensus is closest. Those polled were questioned in the period running from August 26 until September 9.

I’m, at best, agnostic about polling responses in the north since past experience suggests a wariness in divulging political opinions to strangers. That said, I don’t see much of a margin of error for those at the Twaddell ‘Peace Camp’, the Orders and their supporters to find comfort in. The survey is reporting that 52% of Protestants said either the Parades Commission should be obeyed or that parades should only take place where there is local agreement (that figure rises to 90.5% for Catholics, or 75% for All, excluding don’t knows). While it is only an opinion poll (with all the local health warnings that requires) and the poll itself didn’t ask if people agreed that parades should be banned outright, it would seem that bang goes any claimed mandate for parading.

In some respects, it also suggests that one pretext for the Haass talks is based on a misplaced belief that there is popular support for parading (even among Protestants). Which there isn’t.