A new opinion poll suggests a sharp drop in support for Fianna Fáil, with the party now tied with Fine Gael as the most popular party.
The Ipsos/MRBI poll for The Irish Times indicates that support for the party is down seven percentage points to 26% since the last survey in July.
The survey, when undecideds were excluded, shows a two point increase for Fine Gael to 26% and a three point gain for Sinn Féin to 19%.
Labour is unchanged on 5%.
Independents and others, which includes the AAA-PBP, the Green Party and the Social Democrats, are up two points to 24%.
The survey was conducted earlier this week among a representative sample of 1,200 voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.8%, The Irish Times reports.
Micheál Martin remains the most popular party leader despite dropping four percentage points since the last poll.
Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform, Sean Fleming, said that the poll shows the public are in the same position they were at the time of the general election last February.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke, Mr Fleming added it would appear that the public is holding judgement and will judge all the parties in the months ahead.
