Mary Lou McDonald has pledged to “re-energise” her party’s message following a slump in polling numbers.
The Sinn Féin leader said it had been four years since the party won a historic 37 seats in the last general election, and said that was “a long time to sustain a narrative of change”.
The Dublin Central TD insisted that a Sinn Féin motion proposing a TV licence amnesty for those who had not paid the €160 fee was not done in response to a slide in the polls.
Polls published in recent weeks have indicated that support for Sinn Féin has slumped by several points from highs of 36 per cent in 2022 to around 28-29 per cent.
As she launched her party’s campaign for a Yes Yes vote in both March referendums, Ms McDonald said: “I’m never happy when we have a dip in our polling numbers.
“I can tell you whatever support we have lost, we have to work hard and go back and win it back again.
“Like in a way, it’s not rocket science. It’s about engaging with people, listening to people, setting out our platform and we’re coming to a point now where there will be an electoral contest in the summer.
“Remember, it’s now about four years since anybody went to the polls, it’s a long time to sustain a narrative of change and energy behind that.
“So what I’m going to do, to answer your question, is I am going to do everything I can as party leader and we will as a team, re-energise the message of change and we have to get out and convince people that the change that they knew was absolutely within grasp, and was absolutely necessary and positive in 2020 that that option is still there.
“It’s still real and still live, and what that means is a lot more hard work.
“In this business, you earn your stripes, you earn your support, it’s not accidental. So maybe it’s just something in my character that I, in a way, see this as a challenge. So I never want to kind of brood on this issue – just get back out and get cracking at it because people are relying on us to do our very best and to deliver for them. So I have a very acute sense of that.”
