Sinn Féin extends lead to stay on course to be largest party in next Dáil, new opinion poll shows
Sinn Féin has extended its lead over its rivals and remains on course to be comfortably the largest party in the next Dáil, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos opinion poll.
With 18 months at most to go before the next general election, Sinn Féin now leads Fianna Fáil by 14 points and Fine Gael by 16, after today’s poll shows the party recovering from a fall-off in support seen during the first half of the year.
Top News Stories
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- Ireland’s weather today: After Storm Agnes swept over the country yesterday, this morning will see a mix of cloud and clear spells. Rain will develop from the west during the morning and will move across the country through the afternoon and evening, turning heavy and possibly thundery at times. Highest temperatures of 14 to 18 degrees.
- Happening today: The Garda Commissioner will meet the Policing Authority as the roster row rumbles on, details from Census 2022 on disability, health and carers will be published and the Public Accounts Committee will discuss housing with representatives from Nama.
News from around the world
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- Nagorno-Karabakh: more than 53,000 flee to Armenia as exodus continues from region: More than 53,000 people from Nagorno-Karabakh population have fled into Armenia since Azerbaijan launched an attack on the breakaway region last week, according to Armenia’s government.
The Big Read
Opinion poll analysis: Parties big and small being squeezed by Sinn Féin juggernaut: Repeat of current coalition seems unlikely as combined support of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens now at 41%As you were, so. The first Irish Times/Ipsos poll of the autumn political season shows political support returning to its pre-summer trend. That, in summary, is a comfortable lead for Sinn Féin in the low to mid-30s; Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael both hovering around the 20 per cent mark; the smaller parties being squeezed; and Independents maintaining their strong, highly localised brands.
The best from Opinion
- Let’s not forget Lough Neagh started dying when Stormont was working exactly as intended: It is becoming commonplace to say the death of Lough Neagh represents the failure of Stormont but this glosses over a crucial complication. Some of the most fateful decisions in mismanagement of the lough were taken when Stormont was working exactly as intended and was seen to be enjoying unprecedented success, writes Newton Emerson.
Life & Style highlights
- Grassroots climate action driven by bold artistic endeavour: Even on the warmest west of Ireland days, there’s always a windy gap at a sports event where a geansaí or jumper is essential. For so many spectators, supporting a local team is a test of good circulation, and the quality of one’s anorak.
Today's Business
- Budget 2024: ‘significant’ one-off financial support for firms planned: The Government is said to be planning a significant once-off financial support for cash-strapped businesses in the Budget 2024.
Top Sports news
- Shane Lowry’s Ryder Cup experience allows him a taste of the team sports he grew up with: “Shane Lowry is a frustrated Gaelic footballer who has had to settle for an extravagantly rewarded life as one of the world’s best golfers.” This was a line from the42′s Gavin Cooney, young lion of the Irish sports press pack, as we previewed the Ryder Cup on our podcast this week.
Martyn Turner
Letters to the Editor
Road safety and speed limits
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Sir, – In an interesting debate on road safety, psychologist Dr Mick O’Connell (opposing the motion) refers to a study of the effect of 20m/ph (about 32.2 km/h) speed limits in Belfast which showed no statistically significant reduction in collisions, a point which the Queen’s University Belfast press office stressed when the study was released last November (“The Debate: Will lower speed limits reduce road deaths? A safety campaigner vs a psychologist”, Opinion & Analysis, September 26th).
Since then, Dr O’Connell is not the only person to use this study to argue against low urban speed limits.
However, the study also shows that there was no statistically significant change in traffic speeds: either there was negligible enforcement or congestion had already kept the speeds low.
Thus the study has absolutely nothing to say about the effect of reducing traffic speeds on safety. It’s a bit like a pharmaceutical experiment where the patients don’t take the pills and don’t get better.
Dr BRENDAN HALPIN, Department of Sociology, University of Limerick.
Video & Podcast Highlights
- Inside Politics: University Challenge: how will the Government deal with the Supreme Court’s order to reform Seanad elections?
Review of the day
- Children’s books: All kinds of adventures with animals, and a tale about teaming up with a bully to foil a witch: Desiring a pet is a rite of passage for children. So it is for the protagonist of Jon Agee’s I Want a Dog (Scallywag Press, £7.99, 2+) who arrives at Happydale Animal Shelter looking for a canine companion, only to find that there are no dogs at the refuge at all.
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