Labour overtakes FF for first time, Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll finds

The Labour Party has passed out Fianna Fáil for the first time since polling began, according to the latest Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll, which reveals that support for the main Government party has almost halved since the last election.

Fianna Fáil has now slumped into third place behind Fine Gael and the Labour Party in the wake of its plan to make savings of €2 billion this year, through a public service pensions levy and a range of cost-cutting measures.

The poll also shows that a substantial majority of voters would now like to see a change of Government with 62 per cent favouring a change and 28 per cent opposed to it.

The Government’s satisfaction rating has dropped to 14 per cent with 82 per cent now expressing dissatisfaction with its performance. This is a record low since polling began, with supporters of all parties, including Fianna Fail and Green voters, now strongly dissatisfied with the coalition’s performance.

The adjusted figures for party support, compared with the last Irish Times poll in November are: Fianna Fáil, 22 per cent (down 5 points); Fine Gael, 32 per cent (down 2 points); Labour, 24 per cent (up 10 point); Sinn Féin, 8 per cent (up 1 point); Green Party, 4 per cent (no change); and Independents/others, 9 per cent (down 4 points).

The poll was conducted last Monday and Tuesday among a representative sample of 1,000 voters in face-to-face interviews at 100 sampling points in all 43 constituencies before the political controversy about the Government’s plan to recapitalise the banks and the latest developments in Anglo Irish Bank. The margin of error is 3 per cent.