A new opinion poll in North Kerry shows Fianna Fáil likely to retain the seat which another poll just four months ago predicted would be lost to Sinn Féin's Mr Martin Ferris.
The Irish Independent/IMS poll, details of which were given on last night's RTÉ Prime Time programme, suggests the party will retain the seat won in 1997 by Mr Denis Foley.
Mr Foley has since lost the party whip in the wake of the Ansbacher controversy and is retiring from the Dáil.
The poll figures are as follows: Mr Jimmy Deenihan (Fine Gael), 28.5 per cent; Mr Dick Spring (Labour) 25.3 per cent; Mr Martin Ferris (Sinn Féin) 16.8 per cent; Mr Dan Kiely (Fianna Fáil) 14.6 per cent and Mr Tom McEllistrim (Fianna Fáil) 14.6 per cent.
The poll was taken among 406 electors in the constituency, a much smaller sample used than in national opinion polls, giving it a larger margin of error.
It suggests that Mr Deenihan, Mr Spring and one of the Fianna Fáil candidates will be elected, denying Mr Ferris the seat for which he has been strongly tipped.
However the outcome is dramatically different than the TG4/ MRBI poll in October which produced the following figures: Mr Deenihan, 24 per cent; Mr Spring, 24 per cent; Mr Ferris, 23 per cent; Mr McEllistrim, 17 per cent and Mr Kiely, 12 per cent.