Support for Fine Gael drops four points in latest opinion poll
Taoiseach Simon Harris canvasses members of the public at the Christmas Market in Rathfarnham Castle Park on Saturday.
The general election race has closed just five days out from polling, as Fine Gael's support drops in a new poll.
The Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll shows that Fine Gael is down four points to 22% of support, with Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil on 20% each.
Perhaps worryingly for Fine Gael, the poll was carried out on Thursday and Friday, before a video of an interaction between Taoiseach Simon Harris and a Cork carer in a Kanturk supermarket was widely shared.
The Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader said he spoke to Charlotte Fallon, a worker with St Joseph’s Foundation, on the phone on Saturday after a clip of an exchange between them on Friday went viral. He said he has apologised to Ms Fallon.
While out canvassing at a Christmas market in Rathfarnham in Dublin on Saturday afternoon, Mr Harris said he was annoyed with himself and had called Ms Fallon to apologise.
“I called Charlotte this morning because she was absolutely owed an apology from me,” he said.
The poll shows that Independents and others are up three points to 19%, while Aontú is up two points to 5%.
The Social Democrats drop one to 5%, Labour remains unchanged at 4%, the Greens drop one to 3% and Solidarity-People Before Profit stay at 2%.
The poll leaves it all to play for with just days left of the campaign and a potentially crucial leaders' debate on Tuesday.
It will enthuse Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil, with the latter believing that it can be the largest party in the next Dáil, a result which looked unlikely after Mr Harris assumed the mantle as Fine Gael leader and was polling in the mid to high 20s. However, Fine Gael's campaign has been beset by issues, kicking off with Michael O'Leary's comments on teachers, the controversy over senator John McGahon's candidacy and now Mr Harris's interaction with Ms Fallon.
