SINN FÉIN’S JANICE Boylan is leading the Dublin Central byelection race, according to a new opinion poll from TG4 and the Irish Times.

No candidates running for the government parties made it into the top three, while Fianna Fáil’s John Stephens ranked particularly low, having attracted only 4% of first preference votes.

Of the 14 candidates who will appear on the ballot paper for the Dublin Central byelection on 22 May, Boylan currently holds 21% of first preference votes – the only candidate with over 20%.

Fianna Fáil's John Stephens attracted 4% of first preference votes.

Boylan may also do well on transfers as she currently holds 10% of second preference votes.

Social Democrats candidate Daniel Ennis ranked second, having attracted 18% of first preference votes.

Ennis is strongly positioned to benefit from transfer votes as he currently holds the highest percentage of second preference votes at 15%.

Independent byelection candidate Gerry Hutch. Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

Independent candidate Gerry Hutch is in third place with 14% of first preference votes.

Hutch is closely followed by Fine Gael’s Ray Mc Adam at 13%.

Janet Horner of the Green Party is on 8%, and also looks set to benefit from transfer votes with 14% of second preference votes.

Fine Gael byelection candidate Ray McAdam. RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

Independent candidate Malachy Steenson has 7% of the vote, and 10% of second preference votes.

Ruth O’Dea for The Labour Party has 6%, then Fianna Fáil’s John Stephens at 4% and People Before Profit’s Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin at 3%.

The remaining five candidates attracted 1% or less in support.

The survey was conducted among a sample of 659 adults in Dublin Central.

Social Democrats candidate for the Dublin Byelection Daniel Ennis. Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

3o% of people polled said the reason they chose a candidate is because of where they stand on a particular issue. The second most popular reason is that the candidate belongs to a party they support (22%) and the third is that the candidate is from the local area (20%).

33% of people cited the cost of living as the most important issue in the election. This was followed by house prices at 24% and immigration at 12%.

When asked about their attitude to change in the way the country is run, over half of all respondents (53%) said they feel “radical change” is needed, while 39% said moderate change is needed.

A large majority (72%) said they were unhappy with the government’s efforts to ease the economic burden of the fuel crisis on the public.

The full list of candidates who have declared in the Dublin Central byelection is as follows:

• Janice Boylan (Sinn Féin)
• Tony Corrigan (Independent)
• Daniel Ennis (Social Democrats)
• Colm Joseph Flood (Independent)
• Mannix Flynn (Independent)
• Janet Horner (Green Party)
• Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch (Independent)
• Ray McAdam (Fine Gael)
• Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin (People Before Profit)
• Ruth O’Dea (Labour)
• John O’Leary (Independent)
• Ian Noel Smyth (Aontú)
• Malachy Steenson (Independent)
• John Stephens (Fianna Fáil)