Poll indicates narrowing of gap in Dublin Euro race

A poll carried in today's edition of the Irish Timessuggests a narrowing of the race in all four constituencies for the thirteen seats allocated to Ireland in the European Parliament.

The poll showed a narrowing of the gap between Fianna Fáil's two Dublin candidates, Royston Brady and Eoin Ryan. Royston Brady has seen a drop in support of three points bringing him down to 15 per cent, only two percentage points ahead of Ryan's 13.

Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald seems set to fight it out for the final seat with the Labour Party's Proinsias De Rossa with both of them on 12 per centage points each.

The biggest loser in Dublin seems to be the Green Party's Patricia McKenna, whose support has dropped to 8 per cent.

In the South Constituency, Fianna Fáil's Brian Crowley continues to lead the pack with a strong lead at 32 points. Crowley's increase of one point increases the gap between himself and Fine Gael's Simon Coveney who lies nine points behind at 23 points, down three from the previous poll.

There is more of a contest for the third and final seat in this constituency with Kathy Sinnott showing a strong increase in support to put her in third place at 15 per cent, up six since the last poll. Gerard Collins of Fianna Fáil is in trouble with a drop in support of three per cent to 14 per cent.

Sinn Féin's David Cullinane leads the rest with 8 per cent, up two. He is followed by Labour's Brendan Ryan on 4 per cent, down one. The Green Party's Chris O'Leary is unchanged at 3 per cent, two ahead of independent Gerard Hannan.

Fine Gael sees the largest swing in the three seat East Constituency with Avril Doyle dropping into second place from joint first - down six points to 17 per cent - nine points behind Fianna Fáil's Liam Aylward who is on 26 per cent. However, her drop in support corresponds with an increase of four points in the fortunes of fellow Fianna Gael candidate Mairead McGuinness who sits in line for the third seat with 16 per cent.

Labour's Peter Cassells is in fourth place down two points to 12 per cent, two ahead of Sinn Féin's John Dwyer who is up one per centage point to 10.

Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty sees the biggest increase in support in the North West constituency with a jump of six points from his nine per cent in the last poll to his current 15 per cent, just three off the pace.

This constituency sees the tightest competition with five candidates each within three points of the top of the poll. Fianna Fáil's Jim McDaid leads with 18 per cent, up two since mid-May.

His colleague, Seán Ó Neachtain sees a drop in support of three points to fall from the top of the poll into second place with 17 per cent. Marian Harkin (non-party) and Fine Gael's Jim Higgins share third place on 16 per cent. Harkin remains unchanged and Higgins sees a single point increase.