Fine Gael’s handling of the coronavirus crisis has been rewarded with a surge of support, a poll revealed yesterday.
Leo Varadkar’s party jumped 13 points on its General Election result to stand at 34%.
Sinn Fein’s backing also increased and is up three to 28% but Fianna Fail is down four 18%.
If Fine Gael was to go to the country on this level of approval, the Taoiseach’s party could gain an overall majority.
The Greens are also on the way down dropping two points to 5% with independents suffering a seven point decline from 12% to 5%.
The Business Post/Red C poll published yesterday also had bad news for the Labour Party which is down one point to stand at just 3%.
Solidarity-People Before Profit saw its support shrink one point to 2% while Aontu is unchanged at 2%.
The survey of 1,000 voters was conducted online between March 20 and March 25.
Last week Fine Gael and Fianna Fail said they agreed on the need to form a government but there was little detail as to how this might be achieved. It is unclear if the surge in support for Fine Gael will affect future talks between the two parties.
The decline in support for Micheal Martin’s party could lead to further disquiet within Fianna Fail about entering a coalition with Fine Gael.
The fact the governing party has nearly double the support of Fianna Fail, which is only third most popular party in the State, could undermine Mr Martin’s attempts to form a government.
While Fianna Fail emerged with the most seats after the election seven weeks ago with 38 candidates returned the sharp drop off in support will be worrying.
Sinn Fein had its best ever election with 37 TDs and leader Mary Lou McDonald will not be unhappy as her party is still 10 points ahead of Fianna Fail.
