A new opinion poll carried out for today’s Sunday Independent shows support for Sinn Féin has further increased.
The survey, carried out by Ireland Thinks for the newspaper, shows support for Sinn Féin is at 34%, up three percentage points on the July poll.
It indicates the party has made some gains since June when it was on 32%, and March when it had gained support of 29%.
The August poll indicates that Fine Gael remains on 19%; Fianna Fáil is on 18% down one percentage point; and the Green Party is on 5%, up two percentage points.
The Social Democrats are at 5%, down one point; Labour is at 4%, up two points; Solidarity-People Before Profit is on 3%, down one point; and Aontu is on 2%, down one point.
In the wake of increased focus on Minister for Justice Helen McEntee over Garda recruitment numbers and safety issues in Dublin city, half of voters polled indicated they were not satisfied with her performance.
The poll was carried out on August 4th-5th among 1,272 adults, and has a margin of error of 2.8%.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has recently denied that there are any plans for an early general election.
Local and European elections are to be held in May or June next year, while a general election must be called by spring 2025.
Mr Varadkar has said he intends to lead his party into the next general election and hopes to form a government afterwards – and has categorically ruled out a coalition with Sinn Féin.
