SINN FEIN POLL SLUMP
Backing for Mary lou party drops by 4%
SINN Fein has been hit by a loss of support which has wiped out much of the gains the party made in the past three years.
Backing for Mary Lou Mcdonald’s party is down four points in two months, according to the latest opinion poll .
It is the largest drop in support since the General Election in 2020.
The Business Post Red C survey has Sinn Fein at 25%, down from the 29% it attracted in the last major poll at the end of November.
The results mark a further drop from the 32% support the party achieved in a poll in October.
While it is still the most popular party in Ireland by five points, a seven-point drop within two polls will be a serious cause of concern for the Sinn Fein leadership.
Analysts believe much of the loss in support is down to the party’s stance on immigration.
Polls also show up to 75% of Sinn Fein supporters are in favour of a cap on the number of asylum seekers and migrants entering the country.
However, the suggested slump in support for the main opposition party does not appear to have been prompted by a significant rise in backing for government parties. Support for Fine Gael remains at 20%, unchanged from November, while Fianna Fail is up one point to 17%.
The largest increase was for Independent TDS, with that grouping up two points to 15%.
It is notable that many of these Independents also expressed immigration concerns. The picture appears stable for the smaller parties in the Dail.
The Social Democrats remain on 6% with The Greens and Labour on 4% while People Before Profit–solidarity were also unchanged at 3%. Support for Aontu was up by one point to 3%.
Sinn Fein finance spokesman Pearse Doherty insisted his party was listening to people on the ground.
He told RTE’S The Week in Politics programme: “Every political party wants to see opinion polls and their party support going up, and I think the previous poll from another paper showed us up a couple of points, so we will take this all in the round.
“What we’re geared up to is the local and European elections, focused on the general election, which we expect before the end of the year.”