SINN FÉIN REMAINS the most popular party in Ireland by wide margin, according to a new opinion poll.

The Sunday Independent / Ireland Thinks poll shows approval for Sinn Féin at 35%, down 1% from last month.

Fine Gael is the closest party, with support unchanged at 22%, while approval for Fianna Fáil has risen slightly by two percentage points to 17%.

Rounding off the Government parties, support for the Green Party remains unchanged at 4%, at the same level as the Social Democrats and Solidarity-PBP.

Aontú and the Labour Party are both at 3%, while support for Independents / Others is at 9%.

Mary Lou McDonald remains the post popular leader with an approval rating of 4.5 out of 10, though Micheál Martin is close behind on 4.4 out of 10. Leo Varadkar’s approval rating is at 3.9 out of 10, while Eamon Ryan is the least popular of the leaders, on 2.2 out of 10.

The poll also asked respondents which two issues should be the government’s top priorities. 

A total of 63% of people said that addressing the cost of living crisis should be the government’s top priority, with housing second at 51%.

The poll was conducted yesterday and last Friday. The sample size was 1,180 and the margin of error was +/– 2.9%.