Sinn Fein's Mr Martin Ferris is set to defeat Fianna Fail in the Kerry North constituency in the general election, according to a TG4 opinion poll published last night.
Fine Gael TD Mr Jimmy Deenihan and the former Labour Party leader, Mr Dick Spring, are each just short of a quota at 24 per cent, while Mr Ferris is a percentage point behind both men.
Fianna Fail's candidates, Mr Tom McEllistrim, a Tralee-based member of Kerry County Council, and Tarbert-based Senator Dan Kiely are at 17 and 12 per cent, respectively, according to the poll. Four-hundred people were asked by MBRI to fill in mock ballot papers between October 8th and 13th.
If replicated on election day, Mr Deenihan and Mr Spring would be elected on the early counts, the MRBI analysis suggested. Mr Ferris would be elected by transfers on a later count.
In the 1997 general election, Mr Ferris won 16 per cent of the first-preference vote, outpolling the sitting Fianna Fail TD, Mr Denis Foley, by 5,691 votes to 5,376, but he was overtaken in later counts.
Senator Liam Cosgrave and Senator Helen Keogh were selected last night to stand for Fine Gael in Dun Laoghaire at the next general election.
