Irish Times poll: Majority say they would not vote for Bertie Ahern to be president

A majority of all voters say that they would “definitely not vote” for Bertie Ahern in the next presidential election, the latest Irish Times/Ipsos poll finds. Just 7 per cent of voters said they would “definitely vote for him”.

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The findings come after Mr Ahern recently rejoined Fianna Fáil after more than a decade out of the party from which he resigned after the report of the Mahon Tribunal. His return prompted a flurry of speculation that Mr Ahern, who led the party from 1994 to 2008 and was elected taoiseach three times, was considering a bid for the presidency in 2025. The former taoiseach declined to rule out the possibility.

Today’s poll findings, however, demonstrate just how much of an uphill struggle that would be even for a proven vote-getter like Mr Ahern.

Over half of all respondents (51 per cent) say they would “definitely not vote” for him, with a further 14 per cent saying they would “probably not vote for him but it would depend on the other candidates”.

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Just 7 per cent said they would definitely vote for him, while a further 13 per cent said they would “probably vote for him but it would depend on the other candidates”. And 15 per cent said they didn’t know or had no opinion.

The youngest voters were most likely to have no opinion – 41 per cent of the 18-24 year-old bracket said they had no opinion, while a further 25 per cent of 25-34 year-olds had no opinion.

[ Fintan O’Toole: Why it is so good to have Bertie back about the place ]

Not surprisingly, Fianna Fáil supporters were most likely to vote for him, with 20 per cent saying they would “definitely vote for him”. But even here he faces stiff opposition: 34 per cent of Fianna Fáil voters say they would definitely not vote for him.

The poll also asked about perceptions of Mr Ahern. Asked what was the first thing to come to mind when they think of Mr Ahern’s time in government, just 5 per cent opted for “as the Taoiseach during a period of economic transformation”, while 23 per cent identified him as “the Taoiseach leading up to the crash of the Irish economy in 2008″.

A quarter of all voters think principally of Mr Ahern as “a key player in the Northern Ireland peace process”, while a slightly greater proportion identified him as “a politician whose finances were investigated by the Mahon Tribunal”. Over a fifth (22 per cent) said they didn’t know. Almost six out of 10 (59 per cent) of the youngest voters said they didn’t know.

Again perceptions of Mr Ahern are most positive among Fianna Fáil voters, where almost half (47 per cent) remember him chiefly for his contribution to the peace process.

The poll was conducted among 1,200 adults at 120 sampling points across all constituencies between February 19th and 21st. Respondents were interviewed at their own homes. The accuracy is estimated at plus or minus 2.8 per cent.