THE OPPOSITION has said that if the Government's poor showing in the latest Irish Timesopinion poll were to be repeated on June 5th it would result in an immediate general election.
However, Taoiseach Brian Cowen argued that the Government was not motivated by the local, European and byelections next month, saying it was doing what was necessary to improve the economy.
The Taoiseach, on a visit to Donegal, gave his first reaction to the poll which showed support for his party at 21 per cent, 17 points behind Fine Gael (at 38 per cent), and only one point ahead of Labour (20 per cent).
In addition, it showed that satisfaction ratings with the Government had plunged to 10 per cent, with Mr Cowen’s own satisfaction rating at 18 per cent, the lowest he has had since becoming Taoiseach 12 months ago.
Mr Cowen pointed out that the poll showed there was still 20 per cent of the electorate who were undecided and said Fianna Fáil would continue to talk to those people in the remaining three weeks of the campaign.
“Today the ESRI confirmed that the direction of our policies was the right one. Obviously they are difficult. They do provide impositions on people. We recognise that. What we are saying is that in the short-term, difficult choices will have to be made to revert to recovery,” said Mr Cowen.
“It is not a question of what is right for the next election but what is right for the next generation, so there is a long haul here of recovery to be implemented and we are committed to doing that.”
Speaking in Galway, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said that if the results on June 5th were anything like the poll results there would have to be a general election. “The Government now has only a 10 per cent satisfaction rating. No Government on that rating will have the authority to continue governing.
“There would have to be a general election and I believe there would have to be a change of government,” he said.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, campaigning in Kilkenny, expressed similar sentiments.
Mr Kenny said if people’s votes reflected the results of the poll there would be “trouble ahead for the Government”.
He said he hoped there would be a general election soon. “The country is floundering around with a Government that does not know what it’s doing”.
Regarding his own satisfaction rating of 33 per cent, Mr Kenny said he accepted that Mr Gilmore was the most popular party leader in the country.
“I am happier to see the Fine Gael party rising rather than my own personal rating,” he said.
Reacting to his party’s 3 per cent support levels, Green Party leader John Gormley said that the polls reflected an understandable anger. However, he continued: “Anger can sometimes be irrational. If they step back from the situation and ask themselves some fundamental questions: Is it in the best interests now of the country to have instability? Are the Greens doing a good job in Government? Are they doing a good job at local level?
“They will have to come to the conclusion that, yes, the Greens are performing well.”
However, Fine Gael frontbench spokesman Alan Shatter accused Mr Gormley of arrogance and contempt for the electorate when he said that people’s anger with the Government was irrational.
“It seems that after two years in Government with Fianna Fáil, the Green Party has been so contaminated by the Fianna Fáil ethos that it no longer recognises the electorate’s right to be angered by this Government’s unprecedented incompetence,” he said.
Sinn Féin MEP Mary Lou McDonald said that on the basis of her party’s support levels of 9 per cent, she would retain her seat in the three-seat Dublin constituency. Cork Fianna Fáil TD Noel O’Flynn said the results were worrying. Speaking on Cork 96FM, he said that if a general election were held tomorrow Fianna Fáil would be in very serious difficulties.