Support for Sinn Féin has reached an all-time high in Ireland, with the party now holding a 15-point lead over both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
A new Irish Times/MRBI opinion poll has found that 35% of Irish voters now support Sinn Féin, up 3% compared to the last opinion poll in October.
Meanwhile, just 20% of voters support the government parties of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, with Fine Gael suffering a 2% drop since the last poll and Fianna Fáil remaining the same.
The Green Party, which also makes up the current government with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, has suffered a 2% drop to 5% since the October opinion poll.
The poll was conducted among 1,200 adults between December 5-8 and had a margin of error of 2.8%. The results do not include the responses of undecided voters.
Respondents were polled on 120 different sampling points, including their opinion of the Irish Government's public health measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A total of 57% of people believe that the Irish Government had done a "good job" during the pandemic, compared to 29% of people who said that it had done a "bad job".
However, support for the Government's handling of the pandemic has fallen significantly since October, when 74% of people believed that it was doing a good job.
Two-thirds of people said that they would not consider closing bars and restaurants in response to rising COVID-19 case numbers, while 58% of people were against closing gyms.
A further 66% of people were opposed to banning attendance at outdoor sporting events, while 73% were against closing schools and colleges.
However, more than half (54%) of respondents said that they support banning international travel, while 61% of people supported mask-wearing for children aged between nine and 12 after Christmas.
Elsewhere, 69% of people supported limiting numbers in bars and restaurants over Christmas, while 53% of respondents supported limiting household gatherings over the festive period.
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