A NEW OPINION poll has seen a dramatic surge in support for Sinn Féin since the general election, putting the party 15 points ahead of its nearest rival.
The Behaviour & Attitudes poll on behalf of the Sunday Times puts Sinn Féin on 35% support, up 10 points on the party’s result in the general election three weeks ago.
The party won the most amount of votes in the 8 February election but today’s poll suggests a significant increase in support since then.
Fianna Fáil have fallen by two points to 20% in that time and Fine Gael have fallen by three points to 18%.
The state of the parties is as follows:
The poll also measured the popularity of the main party leaders in the country, with Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald the most popular figure with a satisfaction of 53%, up 13 points on the previous poll in the series.
Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin is the next most popular leader with a satisfaction rating of 31% (-15) followed by Labour’s Brendan Howlin 29% (-9) and then Leo Varadkar 27% (-8).
Since the general election, Sinn Féin conducted a series of meetings among their supporters throughout the country and has been attempting to build support to lead a government.
McDonald yesterday cautioned Green Party leader Eamon Ryan that going into government with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would be a “mistake”.
Sinn Féin have been speaking to left-leaning parties as part of efforts to form a government but Dáil arithmetic suggests two parties out of Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is likely required to form a stable government.
Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have ruled out speaking to Sinn Féin about government formation and the two parties are instead planning to hold a one-day policy seminar together in the coming week.
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