Government formation is not a priority for majority of voters

A substantial majority of voters say the formation of a government is not their priority when deciding how to vote, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll.

Asked if they made their decision on whether to vote for a party or candidate based on the prospects of getting into government, 62 per cent said they voted regardless of the likelihood of government while 27 per cent said it was important and 11 per cent had no opinion.

There was not a big variation across the supporters of the different parties with Fine Gael voters a little more inclined to say the likelihood of getting into government was important.

There was no great variation in class terms either but people in Dublin placed a higher priority on the likelihood of getting into government than those in other regions.

Asked if they would like to see the current Government re-elected or have a change in government a big majority opted for change.

A total of 63 per cent said they would like to see a change of government with 30 per cent saying they would like to see the re-election of the current government.

There was a huge variation across the party spectrum with 84 per cent of Fine Gael supporters wanting to see the Government re-elected but only 57 per cent of Labour voters wanted it to continue.

Supporters of Opposition parties and Independents wanted to see a change.

There was a significant difference in class terms with a majority of those in the AB category wanting the Government to be re-elected but all categories opted for change with their feeling being particularly strong among the poorest DE voters.

In spite of the desire for a change of government 64 per cent of people expressed the view that it was likely that Fine Gael would be in government again after the election.

Among the variety of options offered to them 42 per cent of voters said it was likely that Fine Gael and Labour would be in government on their own or with the support of others with the other 22 per cent saying it was likely Fine Gael would be involved in some other combination.

Asked whether they would like to see Fine Gael back in government with an overall majority or as part of a coalition there was strong support for the coalition option.

Just 13 per cent said they would like to see Fine Gael back with an overall majority while 65 per cent said as part of a coalition and 15 per cent said neither option.

Coalition option Interestingly, even among Fine Gael voters there was a preference for the coalition option with 65 per cent of party supporters preferring it compared to 29 per cent who would like to see an overall majority for the party.

When the supporters of the various parties were asked who they would like to see their favoured party go into coalition with Labour emerged as the most coalition-friendly party while Sinn Féin was the most coalition-repellant.

Labour was the favoured coalition option of 34 per cent of voters with Sinn Féin the favoured option of just 6 per cent, despite the fact that support for Sinn Féin was almost three times greater than Labour.

Unsurprisingly, 66 per cent of Fine Gael supporters had Labour as their favoured coalition option while 24 per cent of Fianna Fáil supporters also opted for Labour.

Some 29 per cent of Independent/Other voters gave Labour as their preferred coalition option while the party was the choice of 12 per cent of Sinn Féin voters. Labour voters reciprocated support for Fine Gael as their preferred coalition partner although not quite as strongly.

Among Fianna Fáil voters while Labour was the preferred option Fine Gael came next with 19 per cent support while 14 per cent of the party supporters expressed support for coalition with Sinn Féin.

Among Sinn Féin voters smaller parties or groupings were the first choice followed by Fianna Fáil and Labour.

Asked for the main reason they intended to vote for a particular candidate or party voters came up with a variety of responses and there were stark differences between the supporters of different parties.

Good decisions

The perception that a candidate/party is doing a good job or making good decisions came out on top with 21 per cent of respondents giving it as the main reason for voting in a particular way.

Two-thirds of Fine Gael voters gave this as their reason for supporting the party, a far higher proportion than any other group.

Next on the list was the view there was a need for change with 14 per cent giving that as their reason.

Sinn Féin voters were strongest on this followed by supporters of Independents and smaller parties.

In a tie for third place with 11 per cent each came policies/ideology and tradition/always vote that way.

Fianna Fáil voters opted most heavily for tradition/always voted this way. The option of deliver on promises/trustworthy was put forward by just 4 per cent of voters.