Fifty three percent of people living in the State believe that the Irish language is a unique resource which can make a positive contribution to economic development, according to an opinion poll carried out by Millward Brown for Conradh na Gaeilge.
The results of the poll, published this morning on the online news service Tuairisc.ie, show that 46 per cent of people in Northern Ireland agreed that Irish is a unique and positive economic resource.
A majority of people living in Belfast city, 54 per cent, felt that Irish could make a positive contribution to economic development.
22 per cent of those polled in the South disagreed that Irish was a valuable economic resource, while the figure for those who disagreed in the North was higher at 27 percent.
25 percent of respondents in the South and 27 per cent of respondents in the North had no opinion.
Those most likely to agree that Irish is a unique and postive economic resource included young people and people living in Leinster, while in the North 47 per cent of Protestants rejected the idea that Irish was of economic benefit.
Meanwhile, 42 per cent of people living in the State and 37 per cent of people living in the North agreed that using Irish provides businesses with a unique selling point.
28 per cent of people living in the State rejected the idea that using Irish offered a unique selling point to businesses, while 30 per cent had no opinion on the matter.
In the North 31 per cent of respondents disagreed that Irish was a unique selling point in business, while 31 per cent had no opinion.
Younger people, farmers, and people living in Munster, were more likely to agree that using Irish gives businesses an advantage. In Northern Ireland, people living in border counties and Catholics were most likely to regard the use of Irish as beneficial to business.
The Millward Brown/Conradh na Gaeilge opinion poll was carried out on both sides of the Border, using samples of over 1,000 people aged 15 or more.