Support for Independents falls dramatically, poll finds

Support for Independents has fallen dramatically to just 8 per cent, according to the results of a Millward Brown opinion poll.

The poll, which was conducted over 12 days up to last Wednesday ,shows that when undecided voters were excluded, support for Independents has dropped by 10 percentage points when compared to the general election result.

Over the same period support for Fine Gael up four points to 30 per cent, Fianna Fáil is up two to 26 per cent while support for Sinn Féin has risen six points to 20 per cent.

The poll, for the Sunday Independent, does not distinguish between the different Independent groupings. A number of Independent's are part of the Government.

Support for Labour remains unchanged on 7 per cent, the AAA-PBP is also unchanged at 4 per cent and the Green Party remains on 3 per cent.

According to the poll, support for the Social Democrats has dropped one point and now stands at 2 per cent.

The poll results show half of those questioned believe the Taoiseach should resign and just one in four want him to remain the post.

Support for Fianna Fáil leader Michael Martin is at 44 per cent, a gain of 16 points since February.

The impact of the Brexit referendum result is reflected in a finding that the percentage of those who believed they would be better off next year dropped during the 12-day polling period from 27 per cent to 19 per cent.