Surge in Sinn Féin support puts it 16 points clear of rivals in poll
Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald is the country’s most popular political leader. Picture: Damien Storan/PA
Sun, 14 Nov, 2021 – 11:38
A surge in support for Sinn Féin has put the party 16 points clear of their nearest rivals, according to a new poll.
Sinn Féin is the country’s most popular party on 37%, ahead of Fine Gael on 21% and Fianna Fáil on 20%, a Behaviour & Attitudes survey for the Sunday Times has shown.
The Green party are on five points, Labour and the Social Democrats are tied on 3% while Solidarity/People Before Profit and Aontu have 1%.
Sinn Féin has risen six percentage points since the previous poll, Fine Gael are unchanged and support for Fianna Fáil has dropped by three points.
Mary Lou McDonald is the country’s most popular political leader on 50%, nine points clear of Taoiseach Micheál Martin on 41%.
Support for Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar is unchanged, at 39%.
Ms McDonald was also the most popular leader among voters under 35, with 59% saying they are satisfied with her performance.
She also secured a 44% satisfaction rating among people who said they would vote for Fianna Fail.
The survey was conducted in a series of face-to-face, in-home interviews among 912 Irish voters between October 28 and last Tuesday.
From the corridors of power to your inbox … sign up for your weekly political briefing on what’s got people talking in front of the cameras and behind the scenes at Leinster House.
