A clear majority of Northern voters favours the St Andrews Agreement, an opinion poll has reported.
Nearly 55 per cent of respondents back the deal, but just under half of unionists support it and a sizeable minority says it doesn't know.
Of DUP voters, just 46.6 back the agreement, while nearly 32 per cent reject it and 21.5 say they don't know, reflecting the party's unease at the prospect of sharing power with Sinn Féin.
The survey, carried out for BBC Northern Ireland's Hearts and Minds television programme, uncovered general significant doubt that the timetable for restoration of Stormont will be adhered to.
Nearly 70 per cent do not believe the governments' November 24th deadline for selection of Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness as first minister and deputy first minister will be met.
Almost as many people - 63 per cent - are sceptical that the March deadline for the restoration of the Assembly will be met either.
Worrying for the British and Irish governments is the large number of "don't knows" regarding support for the plan to restore devolution, especially on the unionist side.
Unionists who reject the St Andrews deal, combined with the don't knows, outnumber those who support it by 51.5 per cent to 48.5 per cent.
Scepticism is particularly marked among self-declared DUP voters, with 53.4 per cent rejecting it or saying they don't know. The party leadership has extensively consulted its grassroots, organising regional meetings and inviting comment in the form of a postal ballot.
The poll underlines the significant selling effort the DUP leadership must make to convince members and activists of the merits of going into government at Stormont with Sinn Féin.
More than a quarter of DUP voters believe Ian Paisley should never share power with Sinn Féin, regardless of what republicans do on policing or even if the IRA army council is disbanded.
However, 70.5 do believe that the party could share power at executive level if these two conditions are met by Sinn Féin.
A 74.3 per cent majority of Sinn Féin voters, on the other hand, believe they can support policing following endorsement by a special ardfheis or after the Assembly is fully restored.
Those Sinn Féin voters who believe the party should never back the PSNI make up a small but significant 18 per cent.