Farming special - Day 1: How farmers plan to vote in the next election 

A quarter of farmers intend to vote for Fianna Fáil in the next election, with the Sinn Féin vote doubling in just 12 months.

While Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s party remains the most popular option among farmers, with 36% saying they intend to vote for Fine Gael in the next election, this is down from 37% last year and down 27 percentage points from the vote the party secured from farmers in 2011.

Conversely, the Irish Examiner/ICMSA farming survey shows support for the main opposition parties is on the rise for the second year in a row.