As the first week of the general election campaign comes to an end, Google has released the top trending searches for political parties and party leaders over the last six months.
It has also unveiled election-related search terms since the election was announced on February 3rd.
Google search data over the last week shows that those searching online want to know: 'When is the election in Ireland?', 'Which constituency am I in?', 'Who should I vote for?' - and the top questions on political parties include: 'Who set up Fine Gael?', 'What does Fianna Fail mean?' and 'Who founded Sinn Fein?'.
Ronan Harris, head of Google in Ireland, said: "The amount of traffic a search term generates cannot be used to accurately gauge the true popularity of a candidate or political party, however it is a useful way of measuring interest in them at any one time".
"It shows that people are engaged and interested. Particularly around the big campaign moments like manifesto launches or televised debates, people go straight to the internet to look up policies, stances etc", he added.
Other interesting terms people searched for include questions like: 'Is the Labour Party dead?', 'How much does Enda Kenny earn?', 'What did Sinn Fein call Micheál Martin in the Dáil?' and 'Why was Gerry Adams voice dubbed?'.
The top questions on political parties over the last six months were:
Fine Gael:
Who set up Fine Gael?
What does Fine Gael mean?
What have Fine Gael done in 2015?
What date is the Fine Gael term finishing?
Who are the Fine Gael voters?
Fianna Fail:
What does Fianna Fail mean?
Is Fianna Fail the largest political party in Ireland?
Who retired from Fianna Fail today?
How many seats did Fianna Fail have?
How many times has Fianna Fail bankrupted the country?
Sinn Fein:
Who founded Sinn Fein?
When was Sinn Fein founded?
What does Sinn Fein mean?
What does Sinn Fein stand for?
What did Sinn Fein call Michael Martin in the Dáil?
Labour Party:
Is the Labour Party dead?
What is the address of Jan O’Sullivan’s department?
Is the Irish Labour Party a leftwing party?
What year was the Labour Party founded?
Who was leader of the Labour Party before Joan Burton?
Social Democrats:
Who will run for the Social Democrats?
What do Social Democrats work for?
Where do the Social Democrats fall on the political spectrum?
While top questions on party leaders include:
Enda Kenny - Leader of Fine Gael:
How old is Enda Kenny?
Who is Enda Kenny?
How much does Enda Kenny earn?
Where is Enda Kenny from?
What party is Enda Kenny in?
Micheál Martin - Leader of Fianna Fail:
What time is Micheál Martin speaking at?
How old is Micheál Martin?
What did Sinn Fein call Micheál Martin in the Dáil?
Who introduced Micheál Martin at the Ard Fheis?
What statement did Micheál Martin make about the election?
Gerry Adams - Leader of Sinn Fein:
How old is Gerry Adams?
Is Gerry Adams married?
For which area is Gerry Adams a TD for?
Who is Gerry Adams?
Why was Gerry Adams voice dubbed?
Joan Burton - Labour Party:
Where is Joan Burton from?
How old is Joan Burton?
What party is Joan Burton in?
How tall is Joan Burton?
Who is the Labour Party leader?
While the top questions asked since the election was announced on February 3rd are:
- When is the election in Ireland?
- Which constituency am I in?
- Who should I vote for?
- Who to vote for in the 2016 Ireland elections?
- Who will win the next Irish general election?
And Google says the top related queries on the general election for the same time frame are:
- Election candidates 2016
- Election date 2016
- Election register
- Election poster rules
- Irish election polls
