Satisfaction with Government at lowest level since 1997

Satisfaction with the Government and the Taoiseach is now at its lowest levels since the Coalition took office in 1997, according to the latest Irish Times/MRBI poll.

Some 62 per cent of voters are dissatisfied with the manner in which the Government is running the State compared to 31 per cent who are satisfied and seven per cent who are undecided.

Of the 1,000 people questioned in the poll, 43 per cent said they were satisfied with Mr Ahern's performance, the lowest level since he became Fianna Fáil leader. The poll shows that 49 per cent said they were dissatisfied with his performance while 8 per cent said they had no opinion.

The latest poll also found that current support for Fianna Fáil has fallen to 32 per cent, its lowest level since the party took office and down four per cent from the previous poll in October.

Current support for Fine Gael was 22 per cent, up two per cent from the previous poll, while satisfaction with the party's leader Mr Enda Kenny was down 2 per cent at 29 per cent.

Support for the Labour Party was also up two per cent at 16 per cent while support for Sinn Féin was steady at 9 per cent with the Green Party dropping 2 points to six per cent.

Support for the Progressive Democrats was up one per cent at six per cent while satisfaction with the party's leader Ms Harney was down seven per cent at 45 per cent.

In his first poll as new Labour Party leader satisfaction with Mr Pat Rabbitte was 44 per cent while satisfaction with Sinn Féin leader Mr Gerry Adams was also 44 per cent but down 7 points from last October.

Satisfaction with Green Party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, was at 36 per cent, down seven per cent.

The latest poll was conducted on Monday and Tuesday among a national quota sample of 1,000 voters at 100 sampling points throughout all constituencies in the State.