Harris far ahead of other leaders on social media, Sinn Féin most popular party
James Cox
While Sinn Féin will be sitting down to take stock after disappointing local election results, they continue to lead the way when it comes to social media following.
Research from Mulley Communications, shared with BreakingNews.ie, showed Taoiseach Simon Harris has the most followers of any party leader (680,353) while Sinn Féin leads the way over their rivals with over one million followers (1,026,926).
The author of the report, Damien Mulley, analysed Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Linkedin and Threads followers and subscribers.
While opponents have labelled Mr Harris the 'TikTok Taoiseach', he has used social media extremely effectively and that is highlighted in the big gap between him and his nearest rival, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald who also has an impressive 462,900 followers.
After that, it's People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett who has 296,700 followers.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has 396,700 followers, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has 82,236 followers.
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns has 140,810 followers, while Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik lags behind with 41,607 followers.
A lot of Sinn Féin's success in the 2020 general election was attributed to their use of social media.
With this in mind, it will be interesting to see how they use it in the wake of disappointing local election results as they build towards the next general election, which is likely to come before the end of the year despite Government figures insisting it will be March 2025.
In an analysis by Mulley Communications, published on BreakingNews.ie on Sunday, it was revealed the party spent €16,150 on digital ads on June 7th. This means they outspent rival parties by 3:1 on election day.
While the likes of TikTok and Instagram are popular ad targets for parties, Sinn Féin's strategy in the days leading up to the June 7th vote focused on YouTube.
They may well return to other networks ahead of the next election.
The closest party in of followers to Sinn Féin is People Before Profit, with 193,900 followers. The social media popularity of their politicians, including Mr Boyd Barrett Bríd Smith, may have contributed to this figure.
The Labour Party (162,087) and Social Democrats (161,035) also boats impressive follower numbers.
For the Coalition parties, there is work to be done as they all trail their party leaders when it comes to followers; Fine Gael (134,927), Fianna Fáil (123,626), and the Green Party (75,013).
