NEW data released by Facebook has revealed that Fine Gael are the most discussed political party on Facebook in Clare since November.
Across the county, Labour were the second most discussed party while Fianna Fáil are in third spot. Sinn Féin come fourth in the rankings for conversations in Clare, followed by the Green Party, then Renua, the Social Democrats, the Anti Austerity Alliance and the People Before Profit Alliance.
Facebook’s data, published with less than two weeks to polling day, has also revealed that infrastructure, health and the economy were the most discussed election-related issues in Clare. After that came social welfare, crime and corruption, flooding, education, housing and abortion.
In terms of personality politics, Taoiseach Enda Kenny was the most discussed political leader in Clare, with Tánaiste Joan Burton coming second. Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin was third in the county ahead of Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin. Eamon Ryan of the Green Party was the fifth most discussed leader.
Elizabeth Linder, Facebook’s Politics & Government Specialist for the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region, said, “As February 26 approaches, we seeing the level of election-related conversation on Facebook get louder and louder across the counties, including Clare. There have been over three million interactions on Facebook related to the General Election already.
“As this data for Clare shows, we’ve been able to really dig down into these interactions and understand what issues voters really care about. What is clear is that there is a lot of interest in the election throughout the county. We expect to see even further activity from Clare based Facebook users over the rest of the campaign.”
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.