A NEW OPINION poll has seen a dramatic surge in support for Sinn Féin since the general election, putting the party 15 points ahead of its nearest rival.

The Behaviour & Attitudes poll on behalf of the Sunday Times puts Sinn Féin on 35% support, up 10 points on the party’s result in the general election three weeks ago.

The party won the most amount of votes in the 8 February election but today’s poll suggests a significant increase in support since then.

Fianna Fáil have fallen by two points to 20% in that time and Fine Gael have fallen by three points to 18%.

The state of the parties is as follows:

Sinn Féin 35% (+10)

Fianna Fáil 20% (-2)

Fine Gael 18% (-3)

Greens 6% (-1)

Labour 3% (-1)

Soc Dems 2% (-1)

Sol-PBP 3% (-)

Aontú 1% (-1)

Ind/Other 10% (-3)

The poll also measured the popularity of the main party leaders in the country, with Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald the most popular figure with a satisfaction of 53%, up 13 points on the previous poll in the series.

Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin is the next most popular leader with a satisfaction rating of 31% (-15) followed by Labour’s Brendan Howlin 29% (-9) and then Leo Varadkar 27% (-8).

Since the general election, Sinn Féin conducted a series of meetings among their supporters throughout the country and has been attempting to build support to lead a government.

McDonald yesterday cautioned Green Party leader Eamon Ryan that going into government with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would be a “mistake”.

Sinn Féin have been speaking to left-leaning parties as part of efforts to form a government but Dáil arithmetic suggests two parties out of Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is likely required to form a stable government.

Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have ruled out speaking to Sinn Féin about government formation and the two parties are instead planning to hold a one-day policy seminar together in the coming week.