Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
RTÉ HAS PUBLISHED its ‘poll of polls’, which is based on a number of the surveys run by other media outlets and polling companies in the course of the local and European election campaign.
As you might expect, it contains little good news for the two coalition parties.
Compared to the 2011 General Election, Fine Gael could lose a third of its support on Friday, while Labour could say goodbye to two-thirds of their support, RTÉ says.
The state of the parties (based on a sample of over 5,000)
FG – 24 per cent (down 12 points on the general election)
Labour – 7 per cent (down 12)
FF – 22 per cent (up five)
SF – 22 per cent (up 12)
Independents & Others – 26 per cent (up 8)
European & local voting intentions (based on a 9,000 sample)
FG – 26 per cent (down 3 since 2009)
Labour – 7 per cent (down 7)
FF – 23 per cent (down one)
SF – 17 per cent (up 6)
Independents & Others – 27 per cent (up five)
So, we’ve all forgiven Fianna Fáil! Great! Soon they can get back into power and plunge us into a new depression
Not to worry kingstown, FG/LAB are doing that just fine on their own!
The only difference with FF (and I’m no fan of their either) is you know exactly what you’re getting – FG/LAB promised changed and reform and even this morning they’re bleating about how they “hope” Shatter won’t take a severance pay he’s “entitled” to.
If I resigned here today, you can be sure I wouldn’t get a cent .. but shure that’s FG/LAB’s “alternative” politics for you
We need a genuinely NEW party in this country (not a bunch of rejected FG/LAB/FF’s) who can be held to account. Alongside this we need a clearout of the upper levels of the civil service, complete dismantling and reform of the Gardai, and the same in the judicary (cause like, allowing politicians to appoint their mates to key positions is such a good idea!)
I have a feeling though that despite the polls and outrage, very few will actually get off their ass and vote for this badly needed TRUE reform however!
King do not forget about ff greatest talent Corruptipn
Labour have the same type of future now that the Greens had in late 2010.
Yep…reaping the wind for the lies told before the last election
Does it terrify anyone else that Sinn Féin are on 17% (and on the rise)?
It is the politics of delusion. If you can’t get instant gratification from the old seek it in the new. SF are not exactly doing a great job in the OT.
Not as much as rise of f fail that shafted us for generations
F Gael and f fail roots r in violence it’s time to move on
Ahippo, Sinn Fein is the oldest party in Ireland. The ‘new’ parties, FF and FG, have not done a good job over the last 90 years or so.
The fact that nearly 50% would still vote FF/FG, *that* terrifies me.
Yes Richard, FG FF AND LAB.
According to the European poll they are 9% behind FG and astoundingly 6% behind FF!!!!
If this is the best they can do after all the country has been through then there isn’t much hope for them.
The really impressive figure is for the independents.
Yes. It terrifies me that we have had a government that were and are so bad and so far removed from reality that if we don’t get rid of them soon we will only have one or two political parties to vote for.
Does it terrify anyone else that over 50% still want to vote for FF and FG. To link SF to violent actions you have to go back some years, to link FF and FG to corrupt actions that effected us all, driving some to take their lives you only have to go back some months. Vote independents otherwise what message are you sending out.
I think you will find that Labour is the oldest party and that FF have held power in Ireland for about 70 years of the 92 we have had since 1922. And typically FG has come on with another party and fixed the mess made by FF. The only time FG governed on its own it did a very good job on the economic front.
Does it terrify anyone that the voters are saying enough of this crap?
Justin – presumably , as usual it’s SF that you are referring to ? As you have a perpetual anti Republican stance on these blogs.
Assuming that it is SF, your hopeful wishful thinking , is likely to be terribly disappointing in the voting on Thursday and Friday in Ireland !
If anything SF may well do even better again , arising from the news last night that disgraced Ex Minister Alan Shatter, TD, is entitled to a further €70,000 out of the hard earned Public Purse & Taxes , arising apparently , from the gross negligence of Labour Minister Brendan Howlin !
The negligence , ineptness and corruption , goes on and on and on, where FG/Lab/FF are concerned .
I suppose it’s because of the limited choices.
O rourke every. Time I see a ff fg lab poster it frightens me because I know what they stand for bond holders bankers and a broken legal system that is not fit for purpose.
Justin
Thanks for your answer on the Gerry thread….I agree 100% with your comments!
Sick of …
And yes
How, just how, are FF up 5? This country is a joke. The politicians and the people who vote them in. Idiots. No wonder we are mocked round the world for being thick.
The reason FF are up is partly because we have core voters on both side of the FF/FG “divide” (and I use that term very loosly as to me their two sides of the same kind) who would vote their party no matter what they did!
The other is that we gave Enda and co a chance to demonstrate their New Politics in 2011 and instead we got even more of the same incompetence, corruption and out of touch muppetry – except Enda comes on TV every so often to lecture us like the schoolkids he should have stuck to teaching.
FF wrecked the country but the irony is that they delivered what they promised – that the “party” would continue as long as it could.. FG/LAB however were elected on a platform of reform and change and that went out the door as soon as Enda got to Europe and told them how we all went mad and got a pat on the head for his commitment to austerity.
That’s why FF are seeing a surge .. because who else are you gonna vote for in this bananna republic? The Greens again? I doubt we’ll ever see the REAL reform this country needs and I’ll be terlling my 2 year old son when he grows up to study hard in our “free” education system and then get the hell out of here!
^^ Two sides of the same coin I meant of course.. I need my morning coffee! :)
have a look at the idiots in government in Australia – not going to make things better here I know but it goes to show Ireland is not the only country with idiotic politicians…
It is axiomatic that all politicians are idiots
@ian, spot on! I won’t vote FF because of the mess they made and Martin was at the top table when all those decisions were taken. I won’t vote either FG or LAB because they are heaping on austerity and misery on the most vulnerable. I said I would never vote SF whilst Adams is leader. But now I am thinking that perhaps I should vote for them, hoping it will send out a clear message that we as an electorate are pissed off. We want change and hope. SF are gaining in the polls because of the unpopularity of FG/LAB and because people are still angry with FF. Perhaps they should be given a chance. Could it be any worse?
On Friday it’s our chance to remind FG & Labour who has the power in this country. My only hope is this poll is conservative and the result will be even better in terms of the lying elitist parties vote being decimated. They ignore us for years & typically will make all sorts of promises & predications at election time – once bitten or in their case ( bitten many times). Never again.
It’s run by RTE so I’d probably bet its on the conservative side. I’m looking forward to the count on Saturday, only then will we have a clear indication to which way the country is swaying. The political landscape is changing that’s for sure.
Jill, do you honestly think FG are “on the Conservative side”? I would consider FG to be economically conservative and socially liberal.
@Alex. Jill is clearly stating that the RTE poll is on the conservative side, not that FG are conservative. Please read comments before typing a response.
Lol of course FG are conservative, they are in EPP in Europe and are right wing neo liberals
Alex – To me FG, are the equivalent of The British Conservative Party and The Ulster Unionist Party , with a good piece of The Tea Party and some UKIP, thrown into the mix too !
Thank you Alex Nevin – describing FG as ‘socially liberal’ is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read on The Journal!
LOL @David. I suppose that “legislating for abortion and the gay marriage” makes them “socially liberal” in Alex’s eye. Lol. just lol.
If you don’t vote, don’t complain. If you’re NOT helping to change things, you’re part of the problem.
How FG so high? Surely people realize what they have done to this country? I’m baffled that anyone would still vote for them.
The country’s most popular party.
Probably because FG and FF are perceived to be “Centre Right” – and there is a body of voters who would not consider voting otherwise. Civil War politics has a strong brand in this country, and many people simply cannot see that there are alternatives to the two main political parties.
FF under Martin has failed to clearly rebrand itself as “New FF” – with an appropriate distance from the time when Martin last sat at the Cabinet table.
I would not be surprised to see Martin exit as leader after FF makes a disastrous show in Dublin in these elections. I would then expect FF (under new management) to perform well in the General Elections.
However, we can expect to see a major question mark over the coalition if Labour decide to replace the skidmark they call their leader after this weeks vote.
Since just under 50% continue to vote “centre right” I would (now) not be surprised to see a September General Election with the intention of creating a FF/FG coalition in order to prevent a further increase in “Left Wing” voting. At their core, FF/FG voters are not really very different, and a “historic burying of the hatchets” in advance of the 1916 Centenary would give the “Centre Right” another 5 years to prevent the Left from achieving power.
Sadly, the left has never been in power. People in this country are so bloody stupid. We are Turkeys who constantly vote for Christmas, though when I say “we” it’s more so the rural counties and electoral areas. Stop making FF/FG try to happen, they arent a thing!
I bet lab/fg are listening to the people now !!!.
I bet they are not.
In all polls FG/Lab/FF have a majority in Europe and councils. Sorry to be pessimistic, but nothing will change come Monday – USC, HHC & water charges are all still going to be there, and either way & Brian Hayes, et al, are going to be receiving a couple of hundred thousand of your money.
Hopefully by the next general election, some new party will be there to shut down the Irish Water quango (before it’s sold) and return water management to general tax, but do that revolutionary extra step and just fix up the leaks.
I’m the fact we borrowed 13 billion for current spending last year means we can’t make taxes magically disappear
FG/Lab are not paying attention to this poll. Did anyone hear that Varadkar fella on Morning Ireland. And I quote “once the people start paying for the Water charges they will realize that the financial impact on them is not as bad as it first seemed. They will then be reaping the rewards of Water charges and conserving what they have.”
Fine Gael/Labour are not listening to the people, the people cannot pay these charges, the financial impact is great and it will be as bad as it first seemed for the majority. What an arrogant troll
No FG. No Lab. No FF. No Green. They are traitors one and all. If you can’t bring yourself to look past years of MSM brainwashing and toss a vote to Sinn Fein, or DDI then vote Independent (first ensuring they are Independent and not temporarily dropping their party logo). Then learn to stop voting based on “my father voted this way” or “rte says” or “newstalk says”. Press for reform of our system. The oireachtais stinks. It’s a trough designed by the pigs. WISE UP
I actually welcome any poll that shows Fianna gael/labour in decline.
It’s wonderful but I’m alarmed to see Fianna gael’s brothers in arms Fianna fail creeping back into play.
Not sure how FF are up, just makes no sense.
Stockholm Syndrome.
A Fianna gael/fianna fail coalition after the next election?
Why don’t we just burn the country now and be done with it, RIP Ireland, the mordor of northwest Europe.
FG/FF coalition after the next GE
If that happened it’d be two cheeks of the same arse, spewing lies from the same orrifice.
Last year I would have thought that impossible, now I think it’s probable.
FF/FG are no different politically, and if SF continue to increase their popularity, I believe FF and FG might actually merge in order to protect their “bloc” as a “token of reconciliation” in advance of the 1916 centenary.
The closer we get to seeing a left-wing government, the less likely it is that FF/FG voters will see a need for their parties to split their identities. It is apparent that they are the same thing.
The two civil war parties reunited
There is definitely a niche in the political market for a new party. A group of like-minded, sane Independents should get together and launch one. It’d naturally take time and have teething problems but in the current climate could because very successful. One their own, there isn’t a whole lot independents can do in the Dáil against the major parties so it could go a long way to having their voices heard.
why are so many against this comment? It makes perfect sense! Maybe some people fear they might lose some cronies in office. Two party politics doesn’t work. Look at the US.
I wish all the Independents and People Before Profit could sit down and thrash out a mutually agreeable manifesto. If they could form something even resembling a coherent voice generally opposed to the policies of FF/FG/Lab then I’d not only vote for them but give up my time to canvass for them.
Also, why do we not have any party running on an anti-EU ticket (SF don’t count cos their economics are so ridiculous). The EU has proven beyond all doubt it is the enemy – not the friend – of Ireland. We are now a NET CONTRIBUTOR to the EU and that imbalance is only going to get worse and worse. If we pulled out we could set our own interest rates, regain our fisheries and other natural resources, etc. If Lisbon had to be voted for twice in the ‘good times’ then clearly there is a large anti-Brussels lobby in this country. Why doesn’t some party tap into that?!
Ideally the Independents+PBP would merge to form an anti-EU party with sane economics. Obviously the short-to-medium term would be painful, but it’s going to be just as painful if we continue on the current road, only the current road offers no hope whatsoever of things getting better eventually.
Almost 50% of the voters think Daragh is responsible for the bad headline.
FF – 22 per cent (up five)
SF – 22 per cent (up 12)
Well done Enda & Eamon you have managed to piss away the biggest majority in the history of the state in 3 years.
Lads look like they’re dancing to ‘Staying Alive’ by the Bee Gees… Apt title with the elections on Friday!
amazing that so many have read this headline and not spotted the spelling gaff. We should have a poll .
All that this shows me is what I most feared.
If there was a General Election tomorrow then FG & FF would stand up from the toilet and the two cheeks of the same arse would finally be back together and in Government, and their charade of the past 90 years would be at an end.
have your say