Seeing double - Michael D Higgins has twice as much support as the rest of the presidential candidates combined Niall Carson / PA Images Niall Carson / PA Images / PA Images

THE LATEST POLL of Ireland’s six presidential candidates suggests that, assuming things remain the same, Michael D Higgins will be returned to the Áras by a landslide.

An Ipsos/MRBI poll released this morning for the Irish Times shows that Higgins has 66% among voters with just nine days to go before polling day.

By comparison, his nearest challenger Sean Gallagher has 12%, with Sinn Féin candidate Liadh Ní Riada slightly further afield on 11%.

The full poll is:

• Michael D Higgins – 66%
• Sean Gallagher – 12%
• Liadh Ní Riada – 11%
• Joan Freeman – 5%
• Gavin Duffy – 4%
• Peter Casey – 2%

Assuming those figures hold through Higgins will be returned without the need for a second count.

The poll was taken on three days last week, among a representative cohort o 1,200 voters aged 18 and over in face-to-face interviews.

It seems that neither the President’s alleged transparency issues nor his unwillingness to participate in all the campaign debates has hampered his candidacy in any way.