The Independent Alliance has moved to defend its role in Government after taking a hit in the latest opinion poll.

The main parties recorded an increase in support, with the Brexit vote being sighted as a possible influence in voters’ opinions here.

Fine Gael is up four percentage points to 30%, Fianna Fail is on 26%, (+2%), Sinn Fein is on 20% (+4%), with the Labour Party and the Green Party unchanged on 7% and 3% respectively.

Anti-Austerity Alliance/People Before Profit are on 4%, the Social Democrats are on 2%, with Independents, including the Independent Alliance, on 8%.

However, speaking to Midlands 103, Longford-Westmeath Independent Alliance TD Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran said they are proving their worth in Government.

“We’re part of Government, and we can prove that we’re stable in Government,” he said.

“We’re not running all over the place, we’re making tough and hard decisions, but we’re also delivering,

“And I believe that if we get time, we’ll prove to the country that independents have a role in Government and if people go back to the majority party rules, and let the big parties come in and take over again, well then we’re back to the same old thing that we had for the last decade, with everything being railroaded through the Dáil.”

The survey of 1,000 face-to-face interviews was undertaken by Millward Brown on behalf of the Sunday Independent between June 18 and 29.