Poll shows support for Fianna Fáil growing

A new opinion poll published today shows Fianna Fáil's support growing at the expense of Labour over recent weeks, despite public disquiet over spending cuts and measures such as the pensions levy.

Despite the five-point jump in popularity for the main coalition party, the Red C poll shows two-thirds of the 1,000 respondents had little faith in the Government's ability to steer Ireland out of the economic crisis.

Support for Fianna Fáil was at 28 per cent, up five points since the last such poll. Fine Gael support was up by one point to 31 per cent, while the Labour Party fell five points to 17 per cent.

The Green Party gained a point to 7 per cent, Sinn Féin dropped 4 points to 10 per cent and Independents were on 10 per cent, a fall of 2 per cent.

Some 66 per cent of people said they did not have confidence in the Government's handling of the financial crisis, compared to 16 per cent who said they did. The remaining 18 per cent were undecided.

However, just 30 per cent of respondents said they believed a Fine Gael-Labour coalition would do a better job of running the country. Forty per cent disagreed.

Nearly half of respondents said the Government should borrow more money and increase the budget deficit rather than cut back on spending on health and education, while a third said they were prepared to pay more tax, compared to 46 per cent who said they weren't.

On the Lisbon Treaty, 59 per cent of respondents would vote yes in a second referendum, 26 per cent would vote no and 15 per cent were undecided.

The results of the Red C poll were published in today's Sunday Business Post.

An Irish Times/TNS mrbi poll published last month showed the Labour Party overtaking Fianna Fáil for the first time since polling began. It put support for Labour at 24 per cent (up 10 per cent) compared to Fianna Fáil on 22 per cent (down 5 points).

Fine Gael were on 32 per cent (down 2 points), with the Green Party on 4 per cent and Sinn Féin earning 9 per cent of support.

The TNS mrbi poll also put the Government¿s satisfaction rating at 14 per cent, with 82 per cent expressing dissatisfaction with its performance.