Ireland’s most popular politician on social media site TikTok is the ever present and versatile Fine Gael Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris.
By far the fastest platform in the world, Tiktok has exploded in popularity in recent years and has become a key political battleground in many countries.
Politicians here though, have been somewhat slower to embrace its charms, but with the next general election on the horizon, that’s set to change according to researchers.
Wicklow’s Simon Harris is by some distance the most popular Irish politician on TikTok, with 90,500 followers, according to research by Ciaran O’Connor of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
He is followed by MEP Clare Daly (71,500), Independent TD Michael Healy-Rae (27,000), Limerick Independent Richard O’Donoghue (25,500), and MEP, Mick Wallace (17,000).
42 TDs have a TikTok account, with Fine Gael the most prolific party with 15 members on the platform, followed by Fianna Fáil with 14 and Sinn Féin with 11.
Sinn Féin is however, by some distance, Ireland’s most popular political party on the platform with 92,000 followers.
Only three cabinet members, Minister Harris, Green Party deputy leader and Arts Minister Catherine Martin, and Justice Minister Helen McEntee are currently frequenters of the playform.
