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OPINION:PERHAPS IT would have been better for the mental health of our politicians if that Irish TimesTNS/mrbi poll hadn’t been published. It sucked the life force out of Brian Cowen. It put a dent in Declan Ganley’s hopes for a Libertas breakthrough. It made John Gormley cranky because the gloriously hysterical Patricia McKenna has been proved right. It left the urban liberal commentariat dismayed and sulky that despite their best efforts the people are getting behind that hick Enda Kenny. Worst of all, it showed that the political love child of RTÉ, the Labour Party, is going down instead of up, writes SARAH CAREY

In response, the Taoiseach is talking renegotiation when he should really slap Dan Boyle around a bit. C’mon Brian, the Greens are going nowhere. Meanwhile, Enda is keeping his ginger-haired head and sticking to the plan. Back in 2007 he heard the same predictions of a Fianna Fáil massacre.