Fianna Fáil look poised to land a shock result in the general election by taking two seats out of five in the new constituency of Donegal, according to an opinion poll for TG4.
A constituency poll conducted by Ipsos MRBI for TG4 Seacht Lá shows Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin are standing equal with 30 per cent of support each.
Fine Gael is on 17 per cent, and the combined total for independents is 23 per cent.
The strong showing for Fianna Fáil could mean Independent TD Thomas Pringle’s seat could be vulnerable. It also suggests Sinn Féin has little prospect of taking a third seat in the constituency.
Pearse Doherty
On an individual basis, Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty looks like he will exceed the quota with 19 per cent, if these results are repeated on polling day.
FF’s Charlie McConalogue is next most popular, with 17 per cent support.
Fine Gael's Joe McHugh and Fianna Fáil's second candidate Pat "the Cope" Gallagher are both on 13 per cent, with the second Sinn Féin TD Padraig Mac Lochlainn on 9 per cent.
Mr Pringle is on 7 per cent, a similar percentage to another Independent Dessie Shiels.
Paddy Harte (FG) and Frank McBrearty jnr (Ind) are on 4 per cent , with another Independent, Tim Jackson, on 3 per cent.
On those showings, both Fianna Fáil candidates would be elected.
Slight worry
There may be a slight worry in Sinn Féin in relation to Mr Mac Lochlainn’s 9 per cent, although he would benefit from transfers from Mr Doherty’s surplus if these results were replicated on polling day.
Mr Pringle would need to pick up the bulk of transfers from lower-order candidates if he is to survive.
The poll was conducted among 500 adults in Donegal on Thursday and Friday of last week.
It is the first of three constituency polls TG4 will run during the course of the campaign.
The others will be in the Gaeltacht constituencies of Galway West and Kerry.
