A fumbled meeting with a voter may dent Simon Harris’s popularity. But his coalition government’s main opposition, the nationalist party Sinn Fein, will likely remain locked out of power.

Just days before Ireland’s general election, Prime Minister Simon Harris has seen his support erode with his Fine Gael party slipping slightly behind both its coalition partner and the main opposition party,

Support for Fine Gael has fallen to 19% from 25%, the Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll showed on Monday. Fine Gael's main coalition partner Fianna Fail was up two points to 21%, while opposition party Sinn Fein was up one point to 20%.