Mary Lou McDonald Leading Taoiseach Race

Sinn Féin’s latest boost at the opinion polls has put Mary Lou McDonald in pole position to be elected Taoiseach after the next general election according to the latest betting.

The latest figures gathered by Ireland Thinks for the Mail on Sunday rated Sinn Féin as Ireland’s most popular party after a 2.5% rise to 30.5%, which put them more than three points clear of Fine Gael.

McDonald also came out as the most popular of the three main party leaders and is increasingly being singled out by Irish punters as the most likely Taoiseach on the other side of the next election.

We have given McDonald her shortest price to date at 11/10 from 11/8, while Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin are trailing in the betting at 11/8 and 10/1 respectively.

Interestingly, potential Fianna Fáil successor Jim O’Callaghan is at the same price as his current party leader after the latest polling figures saw support for the coalition partners slump further by 1% to 13.7%.

Sinn Féin are reportedly planning to run an extra 25 to 30 candidates in the next election and lead the betting to return with most seats at an odds-on 4/6.

*Prices correct at time of publication