SINN FÉIN REMAINS Ireland’s most popular political party, eclipsing both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

The latest Sunday Independent / Ireland Thinks poll reveals that Sinn Féin remain as the most popular political party in the country at 37%, increasing their lead by one point.

Fine Gael are the second most popular at 21%, with no change compared to the previous poll.

Fianna Fáil are in third place on 17%, with a one point increase, while junior coalition partner the Green Party have seen a two point increase to 4%.

The poll was conducted following Budget 2023, between 30 September and 1 October, with no significant budget bounce being seen by any of the three coalition parties.

Other opposition parties have not seen much change, with People Before Profit – Solidarity dropping one point to 4%, alongside the Social Democrats who are now on 3%.

Labour remain on 3% as do Aontú, while support for Independents has dropped by three points to 8%.

The poll also looks at the voting intention of both homeowners and non-homeowners, with Sinn Féin massively ahead for non-homeowners.

According to the latest poll, 51% of people who do not own a home intend to vote for Sinn Féin, with just 9% intending to vote for Fine Gael and 6% intending to vote for Fianna Fáil.

For homeowners, Sinn Féin remains in the lead but at a tighter margin, with 31% of homeowners intending to vote for the party.

This compares with 27% who intend to vote for Fine Gael and the 22% who intend to vote for Fianna Fáil.

Approval ratings

There has also been a shift in approval ratings of party leaders, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin currently the most popular leader on 4.4, an increase of 0.3%, while Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald remains close behind on 4.3, an increase of 0.1%.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has an approval rating of 3.7, increasing by 0.1%, while Green Party leader Eamon Ryan is on 2.1, rising by 0.2%.

The margin of error in this poll is 2.8%.

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