Sinn Fein and party leader Gerry Adams have both suffered a slump in support in the Republic, according to a new poll.
Sinn Fein support has slipped three points to 15 per cent, while public satisfaction with Louth TD Adams has fallen eight points to 33 per cent.
This makes Adams, pictured, the only leader of the four main political parties to see support go down, with Taoiseach Enda Kenny up 10 points to 44 per cent and both Labour leader Eamon Gilmore and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin up six points (to 32 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively). Adams's satisfaction rating is the lowest registered since his party won 14 seats in the general election in February 2011.
The Sunday Timespoll was carried out after controversy around Sinn Fein's response to the Smithwick tribunal report on the murder of two RUC officers in 1989. "There is no doubt the litany of bad publicity surrounding Adams in recent months is beginning to take its toll," Ian McShane, managing director of Behaviour and Attitudes, said. Sinn Fein had been ahead of Micheal Martin's Fianna Fail in the polls throughout 2012 but the party now finds itself six points behind.