MICHAEL D HIGGINS has maintained his lead in the latest presidential election opinion but there have been big falls in support for David Norris and Gay Mitchell.

The latest Ipsos/MRBI poll to be published in tomorrow’s Irish Times is also noticeable for the big gains made by independent candidate Seán Gallagher.

The poll of 1,000 voters across the country, which was carried out prior to last night’s televised debate on TV3, shows Labour’s Higgins on 23 per cent, up five, followed by Gallagher on 20 per cent, up seven.

Appearing in the poll for the first time, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness is on 19 per cent in third place. He is followed by independent candidate Mary Davis on 12 per cent, unchanged from the last poll.

But there have been big drops in support for independent David Norris who has fallen by 14 points to 11 per cent. Fine Gael’s Gay Mitchell is on 9 per cent, down 12.

And trailing in last place is Dana Rosemary Scallon on 6 per cent.

The poll also shows that 18 per cent of voters are still undecided about who they will vote for on 27 October.

Another presidential opinion poll conducted by Red C for Paddy Power is expected to be published tomorrow afternoon around lunchtime.

In full: TheJournal.ie’s Race for the Áras coverage >