Taoiseach, FF retain high ratings in poll

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, continues to hold a high personal rating of 81 per cent, according to the latest Irish Times/MRBI opinion poll, published today.

Fianna Fail, at 56 per cent, maintains a high level of support while its Coalition partners, the Progressive Democrats, have dropped behind Sinn Fein and the Green Party to 2 per cent.

The main finding of the poll, however, is the relatively slight movement in voting patterns and party support since the last comparable poll was conducted in the immediate aftermath of the Belfast Agreement in April. Then satisfaction ratings for the Taoiseach, Fianna Fail and the Government broke all records in the 25-year history of polling.

The state of the parties in today's poll, when the 13 per cent undecideds are excluded, is: Fianna Fail 56 per cent, down 1 percentage point in six months; Fine Gael 20 per cent, unchanged; Labour 12 per cent, up 1 point; Green Party 3 per cent, up 1 point; Sinn Fein 3 per cent, down 1 point; Progressive Democrats 2 per cent, down 1 point; Democratic Left 2 per cent, up 1 point; and Others 2 per cent.

The poll, which was conducted among a national quota sample of 1,000 electors at 100 sampling points throughout all constituencies in the State on Monday and Tuesday, is the first test of political opinion as the parties gear up for the Cork South-Central byelection in a fortnight.

The Taoiseach's personal rating of 81 per cent is down 3 percentage points in the six months. Mr Ahern then scored the highest satisfaction rating of any political leader on record after the signing of the Belfast Agreement.

The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, suffers the biggest drop in satisfaction. His personal rating, at 47 per cent, has dropped by 9 percentage points in six months.

The ratings for the other leaders is: the Tanaiste and PD leader, Ms Harney, 62 per cent, down one point; Labour leader Mr Ruairi Quinn, 51 per cent, down 7 points; and Democratic Left leader Mr Proinsias De Rossa, 46 per cent, down 4 points.

The poll shows a 68 per cent satisfaction rating for the Government, down 5 percentage points from 73 per cent in mid-April. A 10 percentage point drop in support among the farming community is largely responsible.

The apparent stability of the support for the Taoiseach and Fianna Fail is one of the more interesting features of the poll which will test party strategists in the Cork by-election campaign.