The accelerating fall in Sinn Féin support

Their refusal to comment in any meaningful way on immigration.

Why is it that SF are responsible for preventing immigration authorised by FF/FG?

Immigration is, of course, an undeniable factor yet SF are on 28%. In the same poll FG are on 19%. I remember once upon a time people like Leo Varadkar moved to remove Enda Kenny as leader of FG (and to replace him with Richard Bruton) when FG were on . . . 28% in the polls.

SF core support has never waned.

But, there is a reason why Ireland has always returned either FF/FG since the history of the state. In general, the electorate want a centrist govt with a bit of left/green spice. This is unchanged throughout the generations.

"Radical" parties often poll well a bit out from an election. But this peters out, somewhat, when it comes close to the crunch.

SF also struggled to define where exactly they sit, politically. We all know their strong republican aspirations - but FF & FG also pursue Irish reunification.

SF take a hard left approach on a lot of social issues; housing, healthcare, economy. But this ground is well served by independents. Also, the majority of Irish citizens are enjoying better lifestyles than their parents. Standards of living have improved & the middle classes are growing - this inevitably leads to more politically conservative mindsets.

I also think the standard of SF rep is not as good as it once was. In the past Adams, McGuinness, McLaughlin, O'Caolan etc al would routinely wipe the floor with anyone they debated. I rarely agreed with them but their political nous was undeniably exceptional. This was honed through the years of the troubles where the stakes were high and life&death was par for the course. McDonald, Doherty, O'Broin et al do not have the same ability - although they are not necessarily poor public reps.

SF over performed at the last election and weren't ready for it. This has resulted in internal issues - allegations of bullying, reps defecting. The 'chance' given to them by the electorate has not resulted in much difference to the first time SF floating voter. SF would have been better served had last election result happened at next election allowing them to build for the following election (2030?) and possibly find a route to govt.

As it stands, I can't see SF finding a govt route in 2025. A similar version to the current govt will be returned.

"Also, the majority of Irish citizens are enjoying better lifestyles than their parents. Standards of living have improved & the middle classes are growing - this inevitably leads to more politically conservative mindsets."

This is complete nonsense and no longer the case. In actual fact your entire post is utter waffle.

It's immigration. They losing their voted to the independents which to me is clear that it is their stance on immigration. Although, losing voters on that issue isn't necessarily a bad thing either.

I came here to post that exact line about splinters. SF are caught between their core, their newly acquired protest base, the nutjobs on the left extreme, and the nutjobs on the right extreme. Most of those groups would have opposing views on immigration

Their loss is independents gain. FF/FG are not up much at SFs expense

No Independent is ever going to find themselves in government changing immigration policy.

Exactly, so the alternative is vote SF, FFG or Lab GP etc.

I'll give my vote to anyone bar the above, as the above are all in favour of the sh1tshow that currently exists.

Might just be the ups and downs that we see with opinions polls. Wouldn't surprise me if they are above 30% in the next poll. However, immigration is a problem for them. Unlike housing and health, they can't deal with the issue by wooing people with numbers. Doubt that their support for Hamas, the Houthi movement etc is having that much of an impact. The Middle East isn't going to sway most people here. Ditto for NI. Doubt most people know that the assembly is up and running again. I not overly worried about SF in government. I just see FF 2.0. MLMD is a wannabe FFer after all.

This thread is about SF's poll numbers.

Have you not turned enough threads into a focus on your own self inflicted shame at this stage?

I would have thought that a promise to wipe 130k off the value of an average Dublin house would upset a lot of home owners.

Independents getting 17%. This is always a head scratcher for me. Do people think independents will solve the bigger issues or is it a local vote for the national stage?

So who did you vote for? 🤔

Voting for independents is a complete waste of time. It fragments the political landscape.

Plus most of the independents are either ex FF or ex FG and as we have seen rarely if ever vote against them. SF have really got themselves into a mess now trying to be all things to all people in an effort to woo FF and lets face it that is all it is. They want to be in the next government and to do that they need to make themselves more appealing to FF or else they wont get in or if they do manage to cobble together a patchwork quilt of a government without either FF or FG then it won't last a wet week especially if it includes PBP.

It's down to, inter alia:

Immigration, especially with their links to Islamic, ahem, "causes" and their support for undocumented single men contrasts with the opinions of their urban base.

Housing; where their duplicity in their opposition to applications in their own constituencies and their stupid proposal about capping prices at €300K is seen as silly by anybody with an IQ in double figures.

Their elected representatives many of whom are barely literate and grossly incompetent. Of course, they were themselves surprised when these people got elected and are now culling them before the next election in favour of opportunistic middle class marxists which will also cause problems.

Belfast. Its obvious that the godfathers still call the shots and make policy. Many of their representatives have been banned from doing press interviews in case they go off the script.

Their links to ongoing criminality.

Etc.

All very amusing😀

Like it’s a democracy so people can vote for independents. Doesn’t mean it isn’t a waste of time though. It’s parochialism, he fixed the road, that will show those big shots up in Dublin politics.

It’s short termism and cutting off your nose to spite your face stuff. Independents will never implement a difficult budget, argue for a foreign affairs position at EU level etc.

Have they ever clarified how they intend to do that?