FIANNA FÁIL has received a significant boost in popular support, following the departure of Bertie Ahern as taoiseach and his replacement by Brian Cowen, according to the findings of the latest Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll.
The poll also shows a big jump in the Government's satisfaction rating, while the new Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, is ahead of the other party leaders.
Fine Gael has dropped back since the last poll in The Irish Times at the end of January but Labour is up, well ahead of its election performance.
The Green Party has lost support and Sinn Féin and the Progressive Democrats are also down.
The adjusted figures for party support, compared to the last Irish Timespoll in January, are: Fianna Fáil, 42 per cent (up eight points); Fine Gael, 26 per cent (down five points); Labour, 15 per cent (up three points); Sinn Féin, 6 per cent (down two points); Green Party, 4 per cent (down two points); PDs, 1 per cent (down two points); and Independents/others, 6 per cent (no change).
The only time in the past six years that Fianna Fáil achieved an equally strong rating in an Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll was immediately before last year's general election, which saw the party return to power.
The poll was conducted last Monday and Tuesday among a representative sample of 1,000 voters in face-to-face interviews at 100 sampling points in all 43 constituencies.
It was taken less than a week after Brian Cowen was elected Taoiseach and followed last weekend's celebrations in his home county of Offaly to mark his elevation to the position of head of Government.
The core vote for the parties compared with the last Irish Timespoll is: Fianna Fáil, 40 per cent (up eight points); Fine Gael, 20 per cent (down three points); Labour, 11 per cent (up two points); Sinn Féin, 6 per cent (down two points); Greens, 3 per cent (up two points); PDs, 1 per cent (down one point); Independents/ others, 4 per cent (no change); and undecided voters 15 per cent (down two points).
In terms of satisfaction ratings the poll shows the Government has recovered considerable ground since January, with a rise of 13 points to 48 per cent.
This is close to the rating it achieved just before the last election.
Dublin is the weakest region for Fianna Fáil, while the party is strongest in Mr Cowen's home region of Leinster and in Connacht- Ulster. Fine Gael is also weakest in Dublin but it is the strongest region for Labour, which is now significantly ahead of Sinn Féin and the Green Party in the capital.
When voters were asked whether they believed Bertie Ahern was right to resign from the taoiseach's office when he did, 70 per cent said he was right while 24 per cent said he was wrong, and 6 per cent had no opinion. Fianna Fáil supporters were more inclined than others to say Mr Ahern was wrong to go but there was a two to one majority among party voters who said he was right to go.
Asked about Mr Ahern's personal finances and tax liabilities, 65 per cent of people said he had not given the full picture and had further questions to answer (a drop of 13 points in the number holding that view) while 24 per cent said he had given the full picture (up 10 points).
In the first measurement of his ratings since he became Taoiseach, Brian Cowen is on 52 per cent, precisely the same rating he achieved in January as tánaiste. Significantly, only 11 per cent expressed dissatisfaction with Mr Cowen, while 37 per cent had no opinion - hardly surprising given that he had only been in the job for a few days.
The Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny, has slipped two points to 39 per cent, but Labour leader Eamon Gilmore's rating has jumped four points to 40 per cent while Green Party leader John Gormley is up two points to 44 per cent.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams remains on 48 per cent, the same as the last poll, but the new PD leader, Senator Ciarán Cannon, starts off with a very low rating of 16 per cent, less than half that of his predecessor, Mary Harney, in the last poll.
However, 72 per cent of voters have no opinion of Mr Cannon, reflecting the fact that he is still an unknown quantity as far as the vast majority of voters are concerned.