Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Sinn Féin’s appeal to voters is not so much that it is strong among younger cohorts – where it has always held a greater appeal – but that it has in fact grown its support in other demographics, showing the kind of broad cross generational appeal that would be the envy of Fianna Fáil in its pomp.
Irish Times polling shows that the party is predictably (very) strong among 18-24 year olds, where it enjoys 45 per cent of first preference vote intention, according to our last poll in June. This dips slightly to 38 per cent among 25-34 year olds, and again in older cohorts – but as mentioned above, it remains strong and compares favourably to the other two large parties. It is the most popular party in all age groups except for among the over 65s, where Fianna Fáil enjoys 37 per cent support compared to Sinn Féin’s 22 per cent, and Fine Gael’s 18 per cent.
Since the general election, it has built a lead among those in middle age, and markedly grown its lead among the two youngest cohorts. It is no surprise that support is strongest among the generation who are most acutely affected by the housing crisis – a fact so obvious that it barely merits repeating. It “isn’t news in relation to our support among young people,” says Roscommon Galway TD Claire Kerrane, Sinn Féin’s agriculture spokeswoman and at 31, its youngest TD.
However, it’s the key component of Sinn Féin’s base, so much of the party’s policy platform focuses on this demographic, like putting a month’s rent back in tenants’ pockets, reducing student fees and abolishing fees for apprenticeships.
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Party officials also say that Sinn Féin’s alternative budget, to be presented in the coming weeks, will have measures on fares for public transport, to further reduce childcare fees and introduce an income tax package focused on the Universal Social Charge that will “benefit young workers”.
This week, Micheál Martin accused Sinn Féin of “infecting a new generation of young people” with what he said was triumphalism over “horrible deeds” done by the Provisional IRA. The party’s deputies insist their youth vote is focused on more pressing matters.
“I don’t buy any of those arguments at all. I don’t think young people are concerned with the past, with the Troubles,” Kerrane says. “I think they’re living in today’s world and I don’t think the past is something that occupies their minds day to day.”
The Tánaiste’s comments belie a deeper preoccupation among many politicians from more mainstream parties, as well as their supporters, about how Sinn Féin’s youth vote thinks about the Troubles, about past republican violence, and about a united Ireland – a thread that is likely to play out as the election gets closer.
What are the parties doing for the under-35s?
