Bertie Ahern will think all his birthdays have come together with the publication of this Irish Times/MRBI opinion poll. Not only has his personal popularity rating soared, but support for Fianna Fail has hit 51 per cent with only a week to go to the European and local elections.
After eight months on the skids, when a string of revelations from the Moriarty and Flood tribunals, along with the Sheedy affair, conspired to drive down his personal support and the party's ratings, the Teflon Taoiseach has bounced back.
If these findings are replicated when voters go to the polls on Friday, not only should Fianna Fail comfortably retain its seven seats in the European Parliament, but it stands to gain another and to make enormous gains at local authority level. Should that happen, then traditional patterns may allow Fianna Fail to translate local authority strength into an increased number of Dail seats at the next general election.
The turnabout in party support is nothing short of spectacular. Four months ago, the future of Fianna Fail and of the Taoiseach looked grim. There had been a steady erosion in the level of party support from the high 50s scored in the aftermath of the Belfast Agreement. Last month, it was 46 per cent and still falling, with elections looming.
Fianna Fail invariably sheds support during an election campaign and people expected no different on this occasion, but the barometer of public opinion has gone into reverse.
The largest party in the Dail now scores 51 per cent, with the Taoiseach's satisfaction rating jumping by a full nine points to 67 per cent, and satisfaction with the Government growing by seven points to 58 per cent.
The only obvious explanation is that the various European and local election campaigns being fought by the party have had a knock-on effect at national level.
In fact, such is the bandwagon effect created that the electorate - driven by 50 per cent of Fianna Fail supporters - would prefer to see a repeat of the present coalition arrangement after the next general election.
The party's weakest performance is in Dublin, where it is well short of two quotas, but with Niall Andrews likely to head the poll, his surplus and the voting transfers from other candidates could allow Ben Briscoe to challenge Patricia McKenna for the last seat.
That shake-up may also involve Jim Mitchell of Fine Gael and, perhaps, Bernie Malone of the Labour Party, but Proinsias De Rossa appears to be home and dry, along with Mary Banotti of Fine Gael.
Fianna Fail is also marginally short of two quotas in the three-seater of Connacht/Ulster. In spite of that, its two candidates - Pat "The Cope" Gallagher and Noel Treacy - are so far ahead of Marian Harkin and Dana that they are unlikely to be overtaken. Joe McCartin looks secure for Fine Gael.
Fine Gael will be disappointed by Fianna Fail's strong showing. Support for the party increased marginally since last month, but the popularity of John Bruton has continued to decline to a position where he is now a full 24 points adrift of Mr Ahern. However, it can take some comfort from the strong challenges being put in by its European election candidates.
In that regard, it has an outside chance of gaining two seats at the expense of the Green Party.
The better prospect is in Leinster, where Avril Doyle looks certain to take a seat and Alan Gillis is neck-and-neck with sitting MEP Nuala Ahern. Jim Mitchell may create something of a sensation in Dublin by taking a second seat.
If those cards fall favourably for the party, then Fine Gael would have a very impressive election result. A positive showing at local authority level would be a bonus.
The picture is uniformly bleak for the Labour Party. Support for the party, which now incorporates Democratic Left, has fallen by four points to 11 per cent and it has been overtaken by Fine Gael in Dublin. Outside the capital, support for party candidates is in single figures and Proinsias De Rossa looks like becoming its sole standard-bearer in Strasbourg.
Labour will be gutted if that level of performance is replicated in the local elections. The prognosis isn't great, as public satisfaction with Ruairi Quinn slid by three points to 52 per cent.
The opinion poll points to a critical election for the Green Party, as it stands to lose one or even both of its European seats. The party has a broad appeal, however, and the voting transfers it attracts from across the political spectrum could allow for last-gasp reprieves.
There are some excuses for Mary Harney and the Progressive Democrats in these figures. Although the Tanaiste's satisfaction rating has declined by two points to 61 per cent, she is still well ahead of John Bruton and Ruairi Quinn. Her party may have dropped three points to 2 per cent in the poll, but that result was probably influenced by the order in which the questions were asked.
Unlike a normal opinion poll, the question dealing with party support was asked after those relating to the European Parliament candidates and, because the Progressive Democrats are not fielding any European challengers, awareness of the party may have been damaged.
Fianna Fail will be the main winner in the European elections, if the findings of this poll are not skewed by late developments, and Fine Gael stands to make progress, but throughout the State all eyes will be on the local election counts as harbingers of the composition of the next government.