PUBLIC concern and Opposition agitation on the crime issue have not led to a drop in support for the Government parties, according to an opinion poll published yesterday.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, welcomed the poll results as showing "an understanding by the public that our deep seated problems in the criminal justice area go back for a decade, that real solutions cannot be conjured up overnight, but this Government has a steady determination to provide the resources and the laws to tackle crime head on."
Eighty eight per cent of those questioned for the Sunday Independent/IMS poll said they believed the Government is losing the fight against crime 65 per cent believed the killers of Veronica Guerin would not be brought to justice 49 per cent said law and order should be the Government's top priority and 82 per cent felt the recently announced Government anti crime proposals did not go far enough.
The sustained Opposition criticism of the Government on the issue for the past 10 days appears to have had little effect on support for the political parties. Fianna Fail, which has led the charge on crime, has seen its support fall from 50 per cent in the last IMS poll on February 14th to 47 per cent now. Fine Gael's support has risen from 23 to 24 per cent over the same period.
Labour has dropped from 13 per cent to 11 per cent the Progressive Democrats are up two percentage points to 5 per cent the Greens gained one point to 4 per cent. The "others" category, which includes Democratic Left, rose from 8 to 9 per cent.