The new survey shows that Sinn Féin became the most popular party in Northern Ireland five days before the elections, which is an important step forward for this political wing of the former Irish Republican Army (IRA).
The Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI survey published yesterday showed that the left-wing nationalist party has 25 percent voter support, making it a clear leader, ahead of right-wing centrist Fianna Fáil – 23 percent. Support for the ruling party Fine Gael was 20%.
Cynna Fine Gael members were banned from the Irish media until the mid-1990s. The party in Northern Ireland shares power with Unionist parties and advocates unification with the Republic of Ireland.
Shinn Fein announced that she would not join the coalition government without an obligation to immediately begin planning for the referendum on unification of Ireland that she wanted to hold over a five-year period.