Sinn Féin are now more popular in Ireland than Fine Gael

Big news for Sinn Féin...

According to the latest opinion poll, Sinn Féin are now the second most popular party in the country. The Sunday Times Behaviour & Attitudes poll has put the party behind Fianna Fáil in the poll but crucially, they have overtaken Fine Gael. This marks the first time since the B&A Sunday Times series began in 2011, that Sinn Féin placed ahead of Fine Gael. Fianna Fáil top the poll with 28%, followed in second by Sinn Féin who received 23%. This places Gerry Adams and his colleagues one point ahead of Fine Gael who stand on 22%. At the beginning of March an Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll had Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael almost level on 29% and 28% respectively but according to this latest poll, support for the government has dropped dramatically. The survey was conducted over nine days until Wednesday, with recent debates over water charges and the discovery of the mass grave in the Tuam mother and baby home thought to have had an impact on results. The margin for error in the poll is 3.3%. A full breakdown of the parties from the Sunday Times Behaviour & Attitudes poll is below:

• Fianna Fáil 28%
• Sinn Féin 23%
• Fine Gael 22%
• Independents and others 8%
• Independent Alliance 6%
• Labour 6%
• AAA/PBP 2%
• Green Party 2%
• Social Democrats 1%
• Workers Party 1%