Government rating at lowest since 2011

Satisfaction with the Government and the Coalition leaders has dropped to its lowest level since they took office in March 2011.

The Government’s satisfaction rating has dropped three points to 18 per cent and is moving into the territory occupied by the Fianna Fáil/Green Party coalition after the onset of the economic crisis.

Fine Gael supporters are the most satisfied with the Government’s performance.

Satisfaction with Taoiseach Enda Kenny has also fallen to 29 per cent and is at its lowest level since he took office.

Mr Kenny retains strong support, 82 per cent, among Fine Gael voters but 67 per cent of Labour voters are dissatisfied with the way he is doing his job.

The biggest hit has been taken by Tánaiste and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore, who has dropped to 17 per cent, a fall of six points since the last poll and less than half the 40 per cent-plus ratings he attained during the Coalition’s first year in office.

Among Labour supporters 47 per cent are satisfied with Mr Gilmore’s performance but 39 per cent are dissatisfied.

Even more worryingly for the Labour leadership, a substantial majority of party supporters, 72 per cent, are dissatisfied with the Government’s performance, with just 20 per cent saying they are satisfied.

This would indicate that internal Labour critics of the Coalition like Róisín Shortall and Colm Keaveney are in tune with a substantial segment of party support.

By contrast, Micheál Martin can take heart from the modest improvement in his own satisfaction rate and the fact 72 per cent of Fianna Fáil supporters are happy with his performance. Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has dropped two points back to 27 per cent but the good news for him is that among his own party supporters, 74 per cent are satisfied.

It indicates that, far from his leadership being the liability for the party that some critics have claimed, he is in tune with the party’s core support.

The 9 per cent rating for Green Party leader Eamon Ryan shows the scale of the challenge facing him and his party. The only sliver lining is that a majority don’t express dissatisfaction with his leadership. They simply have no opinion.