The Amnesty poll, carried out by Savanta, shows that 68 per cent of people who were polled in Northern Ireland want the UK to remain part of the ECHR, and that only seven per cent think the UK government should prioritise leaving.

More than half of adults across the UK (57 per cent) wanted to remain part of the ECHR, with only one in five (22 per cent) saying that the UK should withdraw, while 21 per cent said they didn’t know.

The top five issues adults in Northern Ireland wanted the UK government to prioritise were:

• tackling the rising cost of living (73 per cent);
• restoration of the Northern Ireland devolved institutions (50 per cent);
• reducing inflation (49 per cent);
• tackling child poverty (28 per cent); and
• legislating for a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights (27 per cent).

Almost nine in ten people in Northern Ireland (88 per cent) said that they felt it was important to be able to challenge the government if it violates people’s rights, and more than half (51 per cent) said it was positive that the UK is part of an international system which holds all governments to the same human rights standards, with only six per cent opposing it.

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland programme director of Amnesty International UK, said: “Across the country, the majority of people want to stay in the European Convention.

“These findings are no surprise to us. People value the human rights protections the Convention brings. The ministers who are calling for the UK to leave it are completely out of step with public opinion — particularly in Northern Ireland where human rights law is so crucial to families pursuing truth about human rights violations during the Troubles.

“Most people in Northern Ireland want politicians to focus on issues of economic and social justice — whether that’s addressing the cost-of-living crisis or lifting children out of poverty.

“A significant number also want to see stronger rights protections being brought into law in Northern Ireland, through the long-awaited Northern Ireland Bill of Rights, as set out in the Good Friday Agreement some 25 years ago.”