Video: Fine Gael Senator alarmed at Brexit supporters' attitude to peace

Senator Frank Feighan, speaking in the Oireachtas, said the result of Lucid Talk's recent Brexit survey were extremely worrying.

"I am very concerned by the results of a recent poll which show that 87 per cent of 'Leave' voters in Northern Ireland would absolutely put the price of Brexit above the collapse of the peace process.

"We must be very vigilant in the coming months to ensure we keep not only the lines of communication open but also cross-community events.

"We must never forget people such as Eamon McCann, Ivan Cooper, John Hume and many more who turned up on that fateful day which changed the course of history on the island of Ireland," Senator Feighan, said in the Seanad this week.

In their survey between May 30 and June 4 this year Lucid Talk put it to 1,089 NI adults: "Price worth paying for Brexit: peace in NI”.

According to the results, which were published this week, 87 per cent of 'Leave' voters here believed the peace process was worth sacrificing on the altar of Brexit.

Senator Feighan was in the Guildhall at the weekend for the international Civil Rights Festival and said it was a heartening experience.

"Last Saturday in the Guildhall in Derry in solidarity with my colleagues I attended a commemoration to mark the 50th anniversary of the civil rights march.

"I was delighted to meet Pat Hume, wife of John Hume, and many others. It was a very moving cross-community event, at which President Higgins received a standing ovation for his speech on civil rights which ranged from poverty, inequality and injustices.

"It was nice to see such a cross-community event being held in the Guild Hall, which shows how far we have come in the past 50 years."