Ireland鈥檚 election race is set for a tight finish as frontrunner the centre-right Fine Gael led by prime minister Simon Harris has slumped in polls before Friday鈥檚 vote.
Fine Gael fell by six per cent, according to an Irish Times/Ipsos poll published on Monday, while a weekend poll by the Sunday Independent indicated a four-per cent drop.
The party, which has been in office since 2010, entered the campaign which began on November 6 widely tipped for a smooth return to power along with its outgoing coalition partners Fianna Fail, also from the centre-right.
But Fine Gael鈥檚 campaign has been hindered by missteps and gaffes, including a viral video last Friday that portrayed Harris, 38, as uncaring and dismissive.
Social media savvy Harris, who took over from predecessor Leo Varadkar as leader last April and oversaw a robust recovery in his party鈥檚 ratings, turned his back on a disability sector worker.
The clip has been seen more than 2.5 million times. Harris issued an apology to the worker the following day.
According to Monday鈥檚 poll, Fine Gael have slumped to third place (19 per cent) behind Fianna Fail (21 per cent) led by Micheal Martin, and the leftist-nationalist Sinn Fein (20 per cent).
The pro-Irish unity Sinn Fein won the largest vote share at the last election in 2020 and were seen as the most likely winner in 2024 until a plunge in support this year, mainly over its stance on immigration.
Tensions are running high over huge increases in asylum applications, exacerbating existing tensions about a lack of affordable housing.
Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein鈥檚 leader and potentially Ireland鈥檚 first ever female prime minister, has pledged to initiate a referendum on Irish unification by 2030 if she wins.
The party was the former political wing of the paramilitary IRA, which was involved in three decades of sectarian violence over British rule in Northern Ireland until a 1998 peace deal.