THE FIRST MAJOR opinion poll on the forthcoming children’s rights referendum shows a large chunk of the Irish population preparing to vote Yes in the forthcoming referendum.

The RedC poll, commissioned by the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI), showed 74 per cent of respondents saying they would vote Yes, with just 4 per cent – or one in every 25 people asked – saying they would vote No.

Perhaps significantly, however, 22 per cent of voters said they were yet to decide on how they would vote in the referendum, which proposes to insert a new article on children’s rights into the constitution.

The poll showed that support for the Yes side was highest among those with dependants under the age of 16, the over-55s, and voters living in Munster.

NYCI deputy director James Doorley welcomed the strong support for the Yes side, but warned that there was “no room for complacency as we have seen big changes in public support for constitutional amendments before”.

This was given further weight by findings that over 60 per cent of voters describing themselves as being not knowledgeable – to some degree – about the nature of the vote. 22 per cent of respondents said they were ‘not at all’ knowledgeable, while 39 per cent said they were ‘not very knowledgeable’.

14 per cent professed to be extremely knowledgeable, while 19 per cent said they were ‘quite’ knowledgeable about the prospects being put to them.

The poll, conducted between Monday and Wednesday of this week, took responses from 931 Irish citizens and has a margin of error of 3 per cent.

Read: Referendum Commission asks broadcasters to give more time to bulletins

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