Second Irish poll shows sharp drop in Sinn Fein support

Support in Ireland for Sinn Fein fell six percentage points to 28% in an opinion poll on Thursday, the second survey in the last two weeks to show a narrowing of its still wide lead ahead of an election due early next year. Sinn Fein has led each of its two main rivals by around 10 percentage points for the last two years, putting the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army on course to enter government for the first time and lead the next coalition. Despite falling on Thursday to its lowest level of support in three years in an Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll, Sinn Fein was still eight points clear of Fianna Fail and nine clear of Fine Gael, the centre-right parties that currently share power.