Drop in support sees FG trail FF and SF, poll suggests

Support for Fine Gael has dropped by six points to 19% is less than two weeks, the latest Irish Times/Ipsos B&A opinion poll has suggested.

The poll, carried out between Wednesday 20 November and Saturday 23 November, indicates that Fianna Fáil is up two points to 21% and Sinn Féin is up one percentage point to 20%.

Independents, including Independent Ireland, are down three points to 17%, while Labour drops one point to stand on 4% support, with Aontú unchanged on 3%.

The Social Democrats is up two points to 6% while support for the Green Party rises by one point to 4%.

People Before Profit-Solidarity are up one point to 3%.

This poll is based upon 1,200 face-to-face interviews and its accuracy is estimated at plus or minus 2.8%.

Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has insisted it remains "all to play for" in the election.

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne he said the crucial takeaway from the polls was the potential implications for forming a "stable" and "coherent" coalition government post-election.

"We don't need six months, seven months, eight months of naval gazing," he said. "We've got to be able to hit the ground running, whoever is going to be in government, and on these numbers if would be tricky for anybody."

Asked if he was on the back foot, Mr Harris said: "I fully accept that this is a three-race tie".

Additional reporting PA