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Irish PM’s Party Support Slides Ahead of Friday’s General Election
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris’ Fine Gael party is showing no signs of stabilization in the latest opinion poll before Friday’s general election, which, if repeated, would likely result in the center-right-led coalition returning to power.
Harris’ campaign gaffe, in which he appeared to dismiss an angry disability sector worker during a supermarket meeting, has negatively impacted Fine Gael’s support in the past week.
A care worker complaining about the disability service was captured on camera as Harris walked away. The exchange has been the subject of his numerous apologies, and a video has since gone viral.
Fianna Fail, Harris’ primary coalition partner, maintained its position as the most popular party at 21%, consistent with the most recent Red C poll conducted at the commencement of the campaign. Conversely, the opposition party, Sinn Fein, increased its support by two points to 20%.
In the Business Post/Red C poll, Fine Gael experienced a 2 percentage point decline to 20%. However, this figure was higher than the 19% it declined in a separate survey on Monday, resulting from a succession of campaign missteps that had eroded its pre-election lead.
If those figures are broadly replicated on Friday, two of the three primary parties must collaborate to establish a coalition government. The most recent election in 2020 yielded comparable outcomes.
Election of Sinn Fein
Mary Lou McDonald, the president of the Sinn Fein Party, is optimistic that “momentum” among youth voters will enable the party to gain power; however, there are still some challenges to overcome.
In 2018, McDonald, 55, succeeded Gerry Adams as Sinn Fein president, becoming the first leader of the leftist party who was not associated with Northern Ireland’s Troubles, the decades-long sectarian conflict over British authority.
Last year, Sinn Fein gained over 30% of the survey vote and appeared to be on the brink of becoming the first left-wing government in Ireland since Ireland achieved independence from Britain in 1921.
Sinn Fein and the other major parties, the dominant center-right coalition of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, are polling approximately 20% each.
Simon Harris, the outgoing taoiseach of Fine Gael, and Micheal Martin, the leader of Fianna Fail, have been perceived as less engaging with electors than McDonald.
Change of Government
Ciara Daly, a 24-year-old digital media worker in Dublin, stated to AFP, “Sinn Fein are the only party that can provide us with a change of government. I believe it is well past due after 100 years of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.”
“The housing crisis, homelessness, all my friends are emigrating, if Sinn Fein don’t get into government… what am I going to do next because I can’t stay in this country.”
Despite not occupying its seats, Sinn Fein is the largest party in Northern Ireland in the UK parliament in London. It is also the largest party at the council level and in the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly.
Earlier this year, Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Fein’s deputy leader, became the first Irish nationalist minister of the British region.
In the interim, an exit poll scheduled to be conducted immediately after the conclusion of voting at 2200 GMT on Friday will provide a definitive assessment of the results before the primary results are announced over the weekend.
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