Sinn Féin support is currently just short of the combined support for both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. Ms McDonald is also now clearly the most popular party leader in the South, with a 53% satisfaction rating, 22 points ahead of Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who is second.

The survey for the Sunday Times puts the support for the parties in comparison with last month’s general election, as: Sinn Féin 35% (+10); Fianna Fáil 20% (-2); Fine Gael 18% (-3); Green Party 6% (-1); Solidarity / PBP 3% (no change); Labour 3% (-1); Social Democrats 2% (-1); Aontú 1% (-1); Independents 10% (-3).

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s rating has dropped by eight points to 27 per cent, with satisfaction with the government dropping nine points to just 21 per cent.

With almost no public support for the idea, Micheál Martin has continued to pursue a coalition with Fine Gael, and the first formal talks between the two parties took place on Thursday.

Both Varadkar and Martin have continued to attack Sinn Féin with wild accusations and insinuations and the cheerleading support of the mainstream media. However, even they are growing to that the rising support for Sinn Féin is a result of public anger at the exclusion of the party.

Ms McDonald said Sinn Féin can no longer be permanently excluded from government in the South. She said it was “not democratic”.

“I do think the people who vote for us have an entitlement that their representatives are respected, to the extent we are not told that you, singularly and in perpetuity, are to sit on the sidelines.”