Irish PM’s party drops six points in pre-election polls amid ‘Simon slump’

Fine Gael had looked sure of victory on Friday before Simon Harris's disastrous interaction with care worker

Ireland's three main parties are almost neck and neck in the polls ahead of Friday's general election, as the taoiseach, Simon Harris, struggles to contain the damage inflicted on his campaign by a disastrous interaction with an angry care worker.

In what has been called the Simon slump", Fine Gael, the centre-right party which Harris leads, and which seemed almost certain to top the polls, is now under pressure. An Irish Times poll on Monday showed FG had lost its commanding lead of two weeks ago and was down six points.