Almost six out of every 10 voters (59 per cent) see the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, as the "best prepared" of the main party leaders to take the State into the next century, according to a poll published today. This compares to a 12 per cent rating for the leader of Fine Gael, Mr John Bruton.
When voters were asked about their preferred government, 48 per cent said they wanted Fianna Fail in government on its own, with 41 per cent opting for FF in coalition, according to an Irish Independent poll.
Almost eight out of every 10 (78 per cent) are satisfied with Mr Ahern, while the satisfaction rating for the Government is almost seven out of 10 (69 per cent).
The poll, by Irish Marketing Surveys, was carried out on December 16th, so it does not measure the fallout from the Taoiseach's confirmation in the Dail that his brother-in-law, Mr Ronan Kelly, was the Appeals Commissioner who reduced to zero the former Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey's £2 million tax bill.