LAST UPDATE | Sun 12:25 PM

PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR Sinn Féin has fallen by three points in the last four weeks, a Business Post Red C poll has revealed.

Despite being the party with the largest shift in support this month, it still remains the most popular party with the public at 29%.

Almost every party remains unchanged, bar Fianna Fáil who jumped one point to 16% and The Labour Party who dropped one point to 4%.

Independent candidates also gained one point, rising to 13% support – keeping their place as the fourth most popular group of politicians in the country.

Fine Gael remains at 20%, unchanged from four weeks ago, and are sitting second to Sinn Féin’s lead.

The Green Party have remain unchanged too, matching Labour’s 4%. The margin of error is 3%.

Support for the Social Democrats (6%), People Before Profit (3%) and Aontú (2%) has remained unchanged.

Data collected by the polling company suggests support for Sinn Féin has mostly fluctuated since the announcement of Budget 2023 last year.

A large spike in support was revealed half-way through the year which was immediately followed by a sharp drop in the month that followed.

Despite the fluctuation, the data from the poll shows that none of the three parties in the coalition have been able to surpass Sinn Féin in support in recent years.

Ukrainian refugees

Three in five people respondents to the poll also said that Ireland has taken in too many Ukrainian refugees. Respondents were asked if they agreed or disagreed that since the start of the war in Ukraine Ireland had taken in too many refugees.

62% of people agreed with this statement, while 20% disagreed. 14% of people took a neutral stance and 3% said they didn’t know.

This poll follows on from a Business Post Red C poll from May of this year that asked a broader question of whether Ireland was taking in too many refugees of any nationality.

That poll found that 75% of respondents believed that Ireland was, with 19% saying the country was not.

Close to 98,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Ireland since the outbreak of the war, along with large number of International Protection Applicants.

It was reported last month that an overhaul of the whole Ukraine refugee response is on the cards, with significant changes due to be made in areas such social protection, education and housing. 

There are plans to limit State-provided accommodation for new arrivals from Ukraine is to just 90 days.  

The latest poll was conducted between 17 – 23 November.

With reporting from Cormac Fitzgerald and Christina Finn

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