Ministers appear to abandon Harris in days before the country votesFine Gael call on Fianna Fáil candidates to shut door on Sinn Féin coalitionSinn Féin say vote for Fianna Fáil will put Harris back in Government
The new research shows the majority of people believe Tánaiste Micheál Martin (38pc) performed best in the debate, with the runner-up being Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald (36pc).
However, just 15pc voters who watched the RTÉ Prime Time debate believed the Fine Gael leader was the winner.
One in ten people said they were not sure who performed best. The Ireland Thinks poll of 418 people who watched the debate was carried out on Wednesday.
The televised debate was the only one between the three main political party leaders. The only other debate featured ten political leaders, including Mr Harris, Mr Martin and Ms McDonald.
It comes as Cabinet ministers appear to be abandoning the Taoiseach in the final days of the campaign.
Only Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe have featured prominently during the final days of the Fine Gael campaign.
Limerick TD Patrick O’Donovan was supposed to participate in a launch on education on Tuesday in Munster but this was called off. Instead, a social media clip was issued of the Further and Higher Education Minister laying out the party’s promises on education.
Similarly, Enterprise Minister Peter Burke was due to appear at an event with Mr Donohoe on Tuesday but did not show up. Mr Burke was, however, at an event today with the Taoiseach.
Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys has also mostly been absent from the national campaign as she is not running to keep her seat in Cavan Monaghan.
Meanwhile, in its latest election strategy, Fine Gael has moved to target Fianna Fáil TDs who previously said they would have no problem entering into a coalition involving Sinn Féin.
In a press release, Longford-Westmeath candidate Micheál Carrigy called on Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy to clarify previous comments he made about power sharing with Sinn Féin.
“With Mary Lou McDonald saying on RTÉ that she’ll talk to everyone, it’s even more critical that voters know where Fianna Fáil candidates stand before they go to the polls on Friday,” the Fine Gael senator said.
“Are Robert and other Fianna Fáil candidates in Longford-Westmeath still willing to facilitate a Sinn Féin government?”
“How can we take Micheál Martin’s word for it, if we do not know where the rest of his party stands on this?” he added.
Similarly, Dublin South West TD Colm Brophy called on his Fianna Fáil counterpart John Lahart to “shut the door” on forming a coalition with Sinn Féin.
Mr Brophy also questioned if Mr Martin could be taken at his word on ruling out going into government with Sinn Féin.
“With potential global trade shocks set to hit Ireland, we need to ensure we have a stable economy and stability in government in the years ahead,” he said.
“A Sinn Féin government presents the opposite of this, yet the public is unclear if John Lahart and many of his Fianna Fáil colleagues would be happy to facilitate this instability for the country,” Mr Brophy said.
Mr Lahart told Irish Independent he no longer supports going into coalition with Sinn Féin.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin are warning voters that a vote for Fianna Fáil will mean a return of Simon Harris to government.
In a statement, Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin said: “Five years ago, Micheál Martin told voters that Fine Gael had been in power for too long and that they needed to come out of government. He then went and put them in. We all know the results of that decision.
“Micheál Martin now wants to give Fine Gael five more years – a fourth term in government. His only offering to the Irish people is 19 unbroken years of Fine Gael in government.”
“Mícheál Martin is determined to put the discredited Simon Harris back into government, despite everything that we have seen during this campaign,” he added.