SINN FÉIN is on course to become the largest party in Stormont and to take the First Minister’s post, according to an opinion poll.
A survey published yesterday by the Belfast Telegraphshows 21 per cent of those surveyed said they would vote for Sinn Féin, while 18 per cent said they would vote for the DUP.
The UUP has 15 per cent of support, the SDLP 13 per cent, while Alliance has 7 per cent. Both the Greens and the Progressive Unionist Party are on 3 per cent.
The poll was conducted by Inform Communications among 1,080 adults over a five-day period following the Hillsborough agreement, signed on February 5th, and before the SDLP changed party leaders.
Of those intending to vote in the next election, 21 per cent said they would vote Sinn Féin if an Assembly election were held tomorrow.
Among Catholics only, some 46 per cent said they would vote Sinn Féin with the SDLP winning approval from 27 per cent.
Of Protestants surveyed, 33 per cent said they would vote for the DUP, followed by the UUP with 27 per cent.
When asked: “If an Assembly election was called tomorrow, have recent political events made you more likely to vote for the same party? Vote for a different party? Not vote?” Some 40 per cent of Protestants said they would not vote. Some 35 per cent of the total sample of people surveyed, both Protestants and Catholics, said recent political events had made them more likely not to vote.