Surprised?
Michael D. Higgins will remain President of the Republic of Ireland by a landslide, if the latest Red C poll figures are anything to go by.
A
Paddy Power General and Presidential Election Opinion Poll conducted by Red C has revealed that the current President commands a first preference share of 70%, an increase of 3% from a previous Red C poll in September.
Sean Gallagher continues to hold second place on 14%.
The poll is made up of a random sample of 1000 adults over the age of 18 who were interviewed via telephone between 3 and 10 October.
The full breakdown is as follows:
Michael D. Higgins | 70%
Sean Gallagher | 14%
Joan Freeman | 6%
Liadh Ni Riada | 5%
Gavin Duffy | 4%
Peter Casey | 1%
Candidates have to reach 12.5% of the vote in order to have their electoral expenses refunded.
Two thirds of people polled believe that President Higgins' salary of €250,000 per year is too high, while the remaining third disagreed with that statement.
The election takes place on Friday 26 October.
Elsewhere, it's good news for Fianna Fáil as the party enjoys a huge five-point increase in public support, while Fine Gael has gone down by one point in the past month.
That poll is as follows:
Fine Gael | 32%
Fianna Fáil | 27%
Sinn Féin | 14%
Independents | 12%
Labour | 5%
Independent Alliance | 3%
Green Party | 3%
Solidarity People Before Profit | 2%
Social Democrats | 1%
Other | 1%
