FINE GAEL and its leader Enda Kenny have continued to perform well in the opinion stakes, despite a difficult opening to its period in office, according to the latest opinion poll.
The poll, commissioned by the Irish Independent and carried out by Millward Brown, gives the largest government party a phenomenal 42 per cent of public support – enjoying more than twice the support of their coalition partners.
Labour’s support among voters, if an election were to take place tomorrow, stands at 19 per cent – three points clear of Fianna Fáil, who sit on 16, with Sinn Féin back on 11.
Fine Gael’s support is up by six percentage points on its general election turnout, while Labour’s share of the vote remains largely unchanged. Fianna Fáil’s support has continued to drop, down from 17.4 per cent, while Sinn Féin has gained one point.
In terms of leadership popularity, Enda Kenny is now by some distance the most popular party leader in the country. His approval rating stands at 65 per cent, up by an astonishing 26 points on the last similar poll.
Eamon Gilmore enjoys an approval rating of 53 per cent, up 11, while Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin stands unchanged on 46 per cent – slipping into third place as the two government leaders become much more popular.
Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams has also gained ground, with his approval leaping by eight points, though his popularity stands on 37 per cent, a good deal behind the other three main leaders.
There is some moderate comfort for the opposition parties in that a significant number of the population remains dissatisfied with the coalition’s handing of Irish affairs.
While 49 per cent of voters are satisfied with the government’s performance, 42 per cent remain unhappy while the remaining 9 per cent could not decide how they felt.
The poll surveyed 1,000 people between Saturday and Monday.
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