The Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris’ Fine Gael party is leading by six points over its main coalition partner Fianna Fail and the opposition party Sinn Fein, according to the first opinion poll since the general election campaign began.
Fine Gael topped the Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll with 25%, a drop of two points from the previous poll in September. Fianna Fail, a centre-right party, remained steady at 19%, while Sinn Fein, a left-wing group, saw its support decrease by one point. The significant shift in the poll was seen among independent candidates, whose support increased by four points to 20%.
The survey, conducted earlier this week, follows the official start of the election campaign last Friday. Sinn Fein, which had held a dominant lead in earlier polls this year, must perform strongly to overtake Fine Gael and Fianna Fail if it hopes to block their path to re-election. The two parties have indicated they would form a coalition government without Sinn Fein.
The results suggest that Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, long-standing political rivals, could once again secure a majority by teaming up with current junior partners the Greens or another small party, or with a coalition of independents.
