MORE THAN ONE-third of voters would choose to give Fine Gael their first preference vote if they could vote in a general election again now, according to the latest opinion poll by the Business Post.  

Members of the public were asked which party or independent would receive their first preference vote if an election was held tomorrow. 

35% of people said they would vote Fine Gael, 27% said Sinn Féin and 14% said Fianna Fáil.

The poll of 1,019 adults was conducted between 23 and 29 April by Red C on behalf of the Business Post newspaper. 

This is a four point reduction for Fianna Fáil and a one point drop for Sinn Féin. Fine Gael’s support has grown by one point to 35%. 

Support for the Labour party remains unchanged at 3%, the first poll since Alan Kelly took over as leader of the party. 

The Green Party’s support is at 7% and independent candidates stand at 8% of first preference votes, an increase of three points.  

It has now been nearly three months since the general election was held on 8 February.

The Green Party confirmed this evening that it will enter talks with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael with a view to forming a coalition government.

The party – which won 12 seats in February – held talks among its TDs earlier today on the prospect of forming the next government. 

It said in a statement that it is conscious of the huge challenges facing any government during the Covid-19 crisis.

Increased pressure has recently been placed on political parties to form a government, as it was revealed that some of the Covid-19 pandemic measures for businesses will require new legislation.

Tax liability measures and credit guarantee scheme will both require legislation, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said at a briefing yesterday. 

The “warehousing” of tax liability for one year after a business begins trading again, means that no debt enforcement action will be taken by Revenue, and no interest will be charged on that ‘warehoused’ debt.

The SME Credit Guarantee Scheme aims to encourage additional lending to small to medium businesses (from 10 to 100 employees) by offering a partial government guarantee to banks against losses on qualifying loans to small businesses.

Fianna Fáil’s finance spokesperson Michael McGrath said that the new legislation meant “more urgency” was needed to form a government.  

- With reporting from Press Association