Sinn Féin support rises as party hardens stance on immigration

Sinn Féin has seen their popularity rise as the party hardens its stance on immigration, according to the latest Ireland Thinks/Sunday Independent opinion poll.

After a week of intense focus on the Government’s asylum policy, public concern over immigration has skyrocketed.

The poll reveals more that 41pc of those polled say immigration is a priority for them which is up 15 points on last month’s poll. Housing (54pc) remains the main issue for voters but is down five points.

Almost two in five (39pc) blame the Government for the increased number of asylum seekers arriving in Ireland while just over a third (35pc) say international conflict and war is the reason for the record levels of people seeking international protection. A further 13pc blame the UK government and 11pc say it is the fault of the EU.

Immigration was centre stage this week due to diplomatic row over asylum seekers with the UK government. A major operation to remove asylum seeker tents from Dublin City Centre also made headines.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin are up three points to 29pc while Fine Gael has seen their support drop two points to 19pc and Fianna Fáil are unchanged 16pc.

Sinn Féin has come out strongly against the EU Immigration and Asylum Pact which the Government has agreed to support. Sinn Féin has also been posting videos across the social media channels insisting the party is against open borders in an attempt to win back support from voters angered by rising levels of inward immigration.

The state of the other parties are: Social Democrats (6pc), Green Party (4pc), the Labour Party (3pc) and Solidarity-People Before Profit (2pc) unchanged from April’s poll. Aontú are down a point to 3pc while Independents/Others up two to 19pc.

While Fine Gael’s poll rating is down, Taoiseach Simon Harris (4.3) personal satisfaction rating out of ten has increased and he remains more popular than Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald (4.0) but less popular than Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin (4.6). Justice Minister Helen McEntee’s personal approval (3.3) rating has dropped significantly after another difficult week for the Fine Gael TD.

The minister has struggled with the immigration issue and has been called to appear before a Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting due to on-going concerns about her performance.

A Sinn Féin led government excluding Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is voters’ most preferred choice at 30pc, followed by Fine Gael-Fianna Fail-Independents at 23pc, a Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil-Green Party government at 19pc and Sinn Fein-Fianna Fail coalition at 11pc.

The poll of 1,316 people was taken between Thursday May 2nd and Friday May 3rd and the margin of error is 2.8pc.

Get ahead of the day with the morning headlines at 7.30am and Fionnán Sheahan’s exclusive take on the day’s news every afternoon, with our free daily newsletter.