Independents have seen their support slump after the General Election according to the latest set of political opinion polls.
The latest Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll shows that support for Independents has dipped to just 8.8 percent – down 6.7 percentage points since the General Election in November.
That dip in support comes as Independent candidates could form a crucial part in propping up the next Government, with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael continuing talks with members of the Regional Independent Group, including leader Michael Lowry.
Both of the presumptive coalition-leading parties however have seen slight gains, with Fianna Fáil up to 23.8 percent support (+1.9%) and Fine Gael up to 22.3 percent (+1.5%).
Sinn Féin’s support has seen a slight bump (19.3 percent, +0.3%), while the Social Democrats (7.3 percent, +2.5%), Aontú (5.3 percent, +1.4%), and Independent Ireland (4.9 percent, +1.3%) also saw gains.
Meanwhile there were small dips in support for Labour (3.8 percent, -0.9%), the Green Party (2.3 percent, -0.7%) and PBP-Solidarity (2.2 percent, -0.6%).