Strong poll showing for Sinn Féin’s Doolan

AN opinion poll carried out in the Dublin South-East constituency shows a surprisingly strong showing for Sinn Féin’s Daithí Doolan.

According to a very senior Fianna Fáil source, the private poll conducted by a professional market research company indicates that Mr Doolan commands support levels of 13%, one percentage point behind Fine Gael. While that would give SF little chance of taking a seat in the four-seater constituency, it comes amid continuing criticism of the party and the IRA in the wake of the murder of local man, Joseph Rafferty.

The republican movement was criticised in the latest Independent Monitoring Commission report in relation to Mr Rafferty's murder. The IMC stated it had no reason to believe that the murder was carried out of behalf of the IRA, but it said that it believed that "members of both Sinn Féin and the IRA were aware in advance of the threat and did not take sufficient action to prevent it."

Mr Rafferty lived in the south inner city, where SF has its strongest support.

If the results of the poll were to be repeated on election day, it is likely Mr Doolan's transfers would have a strong bearing on the final outcome. The FF source would not reveal its support levels, nor those of Labour, the Green Party or the Progressive Democrats.

The four seats are currently held by the Minister for Justice Michael McDowell; former Labour Party leader Ruairi Quinn; FF MEP Eoin Ryan and John Gormley of the Greens.

In this very tight constituency where nothing is guaranteed, the high-profile Mr McDowell would be expected to retain his seat, with FF's front-runner Chris Andrews winning a second. The remaining two seats will fall between Mr Quinn, Mr Gormley and FG councillor Lucinda Creighton.