The first opinion poll published since campaigning for General Election 2020 got underway has handed Fianna Fáil a 12-point lead over Fine Gael.

The Sunday Times Behaviour and Attitudes poll has seen Fine Gael’s popularity fall by 7% - while Fianna Fáil is up 5%.

The poll was carried between January 2nd and 14th – before the campaign got underway and at the height of controversy over the planned RIC commemoration and record hospital overcrowding figures.

The poll, carried out using face-to-face interviews among less than 1,000 people, puts Fianna Fáil on 32% while Fine Gael on 20%. The margin for error is 3.3%.

It means Leo Varadkar’s party is just one point ahead of Sinn Fein, which is on 19%.

The last Behaviour and Attitudes poll had put Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil neck-and-neck on 27% each.

There is still three weeks to go in the campaign and previous elections have seen big swings in support between early poll results and the final outcome.

The Green Party is up one point to 7% while Labour is down two points to 4%.

The Independent Alliance is up one point to 3% and Solidarity / People Before Profit are down one point to 2%.

The Social Democrats remain at 1%, while Renua is up one to 1%.

The final 10% is made up by independent candidates.

The poll saw 923 people asked their views between January 2nd and 14th.