FINE GAEL CANDIDATE James Geoghegan is leading the field in the Dublin Bay South by-election campaign, according to a new Irish Times opinion poll. 

A Dublin Bay South by-election was called after former Fine Gael minister Eoghan Murphy resigned his Dáil seat at the end of April. The constituency will go to the polls on 8 July. 

The Irish Times poll, conducted by Ipsos MRBI, found that Geoghegan has the support of 27% of voters in the constituency when undecided votes are excluded. 

The poll shows that Labour candidate Ivana Bacik is the second most popular candidate currently, with the support of 22% of voters. 

The by-election appears, as things stand now, to be between Geoghegan and Bacik as none of the other candidates are currently polling strong enough to challenge them, the poll suggests. 

Sinn Féin candidate Lynn Boylan has the support of 13% of voters in the constituency, while Fianna Fáil candidate is at just 10%. 

Green Party candidate Claire Byrne is at 11%. 

The smaller parties and Independent candidates are measured as follows: Social Democrat’s Sarah Durcan is at 5%; Independent Mannix Flynn is at 5%; Aontú’s Mairead Tóibín is at 3%; People Before Profit’s Brigid Purcell is at 2%; the National Party’s Justin Barrett is at 1%; Independent Peter Dooley is at 1%.

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Remaining candidates received less than 1% support, the poll finds.

The poll was conducted through personal in-home interviewing in Dublin Bay South between last Friday and Sunday, among a sample of 500 adults at 50 points throughout the constituency. 

The accuracy level is estimated at around plus or minus 4.4% and the level of those expressing no view as their voting intentions was 18%.