DUBLIN, Nov 25, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Ireland's 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's vote.

Fine Gael fell by six percent, according to an Irish Times/Ipsos poll
published on Monday, while a weekend poll by the Sunday Independent indicated
a four-percent 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's 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's 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's poll, Fine Gael have slumped to third place (19
percent) behind Fianna Fail (21 percent) led by Micheal Martin, and the
leftist-nationalist Sinn Fein (20 percent).

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's leader and potentially Ireland's 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.