Sinn Féin support drops to 22% as Independents now most popular among voters

Mary Lou McDonald's party has suffered a massive seven point drop in the last week of the local and European election campaigns

Mary Lou McDonald TD, president of Sinn Féin, speaking at the launch of the Sinn Féin manifesto for the European Parliament elections to be held on Friday, June 7. Picture: Conor Ó Mearáin/Collins Photo Agency

Support for Sinn Féin has dropped to 22% according to a new opinion poll published less than a week before local and European elections.

The poll shows independent candidates are now the most popular among voters. Mary Lou McDonald's party has suffered a seven point drop as Ireland enters the last week of the local and European election campaigns, according to the Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll.

This is a 15 point drop from Sinn Féin’s record high of support in October 2022 when the party commanded 37% of voter support.

Party leader Mary Lou McDonald and Northern Ireland's first minister Michelle O'Neill were canvassing in Cork today as the poll results came through.

It showed the most popular option for voters ahead of next week’s elections is Independent/others who have increased support by four points to 23%.

Fine Gael are up three points to 22pc in the last month, while Fianna Fáil rose one point to 17%.

The poll recorded Taoiseach Simon Harris as level with Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin as the country’s joint most popular party leader (48%), while Ms McDonald dropped to 36%.

The poll was carried out between Thursday and Friday with a sample size of 1,770.