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Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald outside Leinster House on Thursday Alamy Stock Photo

Sinn Féin tied with Fianna Fáil as most popular party, as McDonald set to announce front bench

Sinn Féin has jumped three points in the poll to 22% when compared to November’s general election result, tied with Fianna Fáil.

LAST UPDATE | 26 Jan

SINN FÉIN HAS seen its support rise since the general election last year and is tied with Fianna Fáil as the most popular party among voters. 

That’s according to the first Business Post/Red C poll of the new year.

The poll saw a random sample of 1,003 adults, aged 18 and over, interviewed online between Friday, 17 January, and Wednesday, 22 January.

Sinn Féin has jumped three points in the poll to 22% when compared to November’s general election result, meaning Mary Lou McDonald’s party is tied with Fianna Fáil. 

Sinn Féin’s bounce comes as McDonald is set to announce the parties Front Bench on Tuesday, with a number of changes to portfolios likely.

In an interview with the Sunday Times last year, McDonald said there would be a “significant” reshuffle on the cards, with even high-profile names like Pearse Doherty (Finance) and Eoin Ó Broin (Housing) potentially being moved to different briefs.

“Nobody is in a position indefinitely,” McDonald said at the time.

Of course that would be crazy, and I’m going to look at everything, every option will be entertained and then I’m going to place people in positions where they can perform at their strongest, and where you can get the best kind of collective chemistry and effort among the team.

“But there will be a significant reshuffle and appointments.”

On Thursday, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin was elected as Taoiseach by members of the Dáil following a chaotic 24 hours in Irish politics.

The row on Wednesday erupted following a plan to allow Independent TDs, who participated in government formation negotiations, but who have not been given junior ministerial positions, to get speaking time that is allocated to the opposition.

The row rumbled on today, with both the Government and Opposition parties taking aim at the “unprecedented” events.

Meanwhile, support for Simon Harris’s Fine Gael has dropped by one point to 20%.

Elsewhere, the Social Democrats see their support rise by two points to 7%, while support for Labour dropped by two points to 3%.

Aontú’s support is unchanged on 4%, and Independent Ireland has seen a slight dip of one point, down to 3%.

The Green Party emerged from the election with only one TD, party leader Roderic O’Gorman – support for the party is unchanged at 3% when compared to the general election results.

Support for People Before Profit – Solidarity is also down one point, to 2% while support for independents is unchanged at 13%.

With reporting from Cormac Fitzgerald

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