Catherine Connolly is on course to become the next President of Ireland, as a new poll shows her 15 points ahead of Fine Gael rival Heather Humphreys.
The latest Irish Independent/Ireland Thinks poll shows the Independent candidate at 40%, compared to Ms Humphreys on 25%.
Ms Connolly is up eight points from the previous Ireland Thinks poll, where she was on 32%.
Ms Humphreys, however, is up only two points, having previously been on 23%.
The biggest drop is for Fianna Fáil candidate Jim Gavin, who withdrew from the race earlier this month. His support fell eight points, from 15% to 7%.
The poll also shows that 28% of respondents either don’t know, won’t vote, or plan to spoil their ballot on Friday.
When undecided voters are excluded, Ms Connolly’s lead widens further, with 55% saying they will back the Independent candidate, while Ms Humphreys rises to 35%.
The poll, published on Thursday afternoon, also provides insight into Tuesday’s Prime Time debate. It found that 67% of those who watched the debate believed Ms Connolly won, compared to 18% who thought Ms Humphreys performed better.
A further 15% of viewers said they did not know who won.