THE recent ending of the IRA ceasefire after 17 months of political and economic tranquillity on both sides of the Border and the subsequent explosions and loss of life in London, have presented the main political players in these islands with theirs most serious and urgent challenge of the past 25 years.
The restoration of peace was the main message from the clearly concerned citizens who marched in their thousands over the weekend in many parts of the country North and South.
At this critical juncture, through the initiative of The Irish Times and the Guardian, this wide ranging survey of current attitudes across all three jurisdictions the Republic, Northern Ireland and Britain provides crucial and unambiguous indicators for action to all those who now carry the responsibility for restoring peace.
Not surprisingly, the public is seriously concerned at the situation and is virtually demanding peace without reservations.
The overall conclusion is that individual agendas must be tapered down and should be immediately replaced by compromise on the part of all participants that direct action must be taken to restore peace without delay that this represents a collective responsibility and that there are individual messages for each of the main players.
In this context, the people in the Republic have put down an unmistakable and innovative marker in that a majority no longer sees a united Ireland as the preferred solution to the Northern Ireland problem.
The right to hold this view has been questioned by many citizens of Northern Ireland in the past, but the main point is that attitudes in this regard in the Republic have changed, and the united Ireland concept is equally acceptable to Northern Ireland being linked both to the United Kingdom and to the Republic.
While most will see this as a concession in the interests of peace, it also sets the pattern for a number of similar modifications on the part of those who share the responsibility for restoring the peace.
One of the most significant of these relates to the perceived preconditions for Sinn Fein's participation in all party talks. The electorates in the three jurisdictions are unequivocal in that there is strong all round support for a resumption of the IRA ceasefire and for the decommissioning of IRA arms either before or during talks.
While this represents the message to Sinn Fein from the people of the Republic, Northern Ireland and Britain, there are also further clear messages to both the IRA and the British Prime Minister on the next move to be taken to restore peace.
To the IRA, the resumption of the peace process represents a priority among all respondents, while the setting of an early date by the British government for all party talks also receives solid support.
In this regard, it is significant that Mr Major's proposal for an early election in Northern Ireland towards a settlement assembly is not widely supported in the Republic, Northern Ireland or Britain, and Mr Major is certainly out of line with public opinion on this issue.
John Hume's proposal for a referendum in the Republic and Northern Ireland received considerably more support, with majorities in the Republic and Britain favouring the concept, and slightly less than half doing so in the North.
A further indication of the manner in which the experience of the past 17 months has changed priorities in favour of a resumption of peace at all costs is the extent to which people on both sides of the Irish Sea, and across the island of Ireland, see the Border as being no longer important.
Considerable numbers in all areas consider it not merely not worth risking lives for, but not even worth arguing about.
The primary blame for the current unsatisfactory situation is perceived to be divided between the IRA and the British government, a viewpoint which holds across the Republic, the North and significantly in Britain.
Against this background, it is hardly surprising that the preferred solution to the Northern Ireland problem among electors in Britain is for an internal settlement and for the North to become independent.
Conversely, a majority albeit small in Northern Ireland wish to remain part of the United Kingdom while, as already mentioned, people in the Republic are equally committed to a united Ireland or to a Northern Ireland linked to both Britain and the Republic.
The 17 months of peace have given the public in all three jurisdictions time to reflect and many attitudes have mellowed. Any reasonable solution is likely to find favour.
THIS survey was conducted in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and in Britain on Thursday and Friday last, on behalf of The Irish Times and the Guardian newspapers.
In the Republic of Ireland, the survey was conducted by MRBI Ltd, and involved personal in home interviews with a representative statistical sample of 1,000 electors covering 100 sampling locations across all the country.
In Northern Ireland, the survey was conducted by Coopers & Lybrand among a statistical sample of 1,100 respondents at 54 sampling locations across the province.
In Britain, ICM Limited conducted 1,027 interviews by telephone using a probability selection procedure.
The accuracy level in each of the surveys is estimated to be plus or minus approximately 3 per cent, at the 95 per cent confidence limits, and in all instances the surveys were conducted within the professional standards of the Marketing Society of Ireland, of the MRS (UK) and of Esomar (European Society).