Poll shows First Minister’s rating 16 points higher than Mary Lou McDonald
Sunday Independent | Ireland Thinks Poll: State of the Parties
Michelle O'Neill is more popular than her party leader Mary Lou McDonald. Photo: PA
Hugh O'ConnellToday at 04:00
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill is now more popular, by a wide margin, than any of the main political party leaders in Ireland – including her own leader in Sinn Féin, the party’s president Mary Lou McDonald.
This month’s Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll shows Ms O’Neill, who made history last month by becoming Northern Ireland’s first nationalist First Minister, has an approval rating of 55pc, putting her ahead of Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin on 47pc.
The Sinn Féin deputy leader is also significantly more popular – by 16 points – than Ms McDonald, whose approval rating has fallen back to 39pc.
Ms McDonald is now less popular than Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar, who has a 41pc approval rating.
Meanwhile, with just days to go before the family and care referendums, there has been a significant fall in the number of people who intend to vote Yes and a large increase in those who are either not sure or will not vote in the two referendums on Friday.
Support for a Yes vote in the family referendum has fallen five points to 42pc, with support for a No vote down six points to 23pc. However, the number of voters who are not sure or not voting has risen 12 points to 35pc.
In the care referendum, support for a Yes vote has fallen 10 points to 39pc, while support for a No vote has fallen three points to 24pc. The number of respondents who were either not sure or will not vote is up 12 points to 36pc.
The findings will prompt alarm within the Coalition and the wider Yes campaign, with all of the mainstream political parties, except Aontú, calling for two Yes votes in what has been a largely lacklustre campaign.
While there is widely expected to be a low turnout on Friday, the poll finds that nearly two-thirds of those asked will definitely vote. Asked about their level of knowledge about the proposed constitutional changes, 24pc said they know a lot, 39pc said they know some, 25pc said they know a little and 12pc said they knew nothing.
Michelle O'Neill is more popular than her party leader Mary Lou McDonald. Photo: PA
Meanwhile, despite the strong approval rating for Ms O’Neill, Sinn Féin has slumped to its lowest level of support in nearly three years and is at 27pc, a two-point drop since last month and the lowest in these series of polls since April 2021.
Fine Gael is second on 20pc (up one) and Fianna Fáil on 18pc (up one). In a further boost to the Coalition, the Green Party is up one to 4pc.
However, the Greens trail the Social Democrats, who are up two points to 7pc. Labour is unchanged on 4pc, Solidarity-People Before Profit is down one at 2pc and Aontú is also down one at 2pc. Independents and others are down one to 17pc.
Ms O’Neill’s popularity with voters in the Republic comes after a month in which she was widely praised for an interview on the Late Late Show on RTÉ.
She also made headlines after her appearance last week at her first Northern Ireland international at Windsor Park, where she stood for the playing of God Save the King before the women’s team drew 1-1 with Montenegro.
The poll was carried out on Friday and yesterday, March 1 and 2, among a sample size of 1,083 people with a margin of error of plus or minus 3pc.
This article was first published in the Sunday Independent, which is published in the Republic of Ireland
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