Local, European and Limerick Mayoral elections Ireland 2024 live blog: The polls are now open

Sinn Féin surge or slide?

These eagerly-awaited polls will provide political parties with concrete evidence of voter sentiment, having had to wait more than four years since the last nationwide elections.

In the intervening years since the last general election, politicians have had to rely on newspaper opinion polls to gauge the mood of the nation.

The main takeaway of the 2020 campaign was a massive upswing in support for Sinn Fein, which took away almost a quarter of the popular vote.

To leader Mary Lou McDonald’s regret, this was unrealised potential as the party was still left in opposition after failing to run a sufficient number of candidates in the parliamentary constituencies.

Since then, estimated support for Sinn Fein hovered above 30pc for a long time – even temporarily reaching highs of around 35pc.

However, opinion polls over the last eight months suggest that support for the party is on a dramatic slide – as independents eat up more of the expected vote share.