Gilmore calls for general election as Labour surges ahead

LABOUR Party leader Eamon Gilmore said he is not getting carried away with an opinion poll which put his party ahead of Fianna Fáil for the first time.

And he said it will be challenging to recruit enough candidates to capitalise on the surge in support.

In Mullingar, Taoiseach Brain Cowen said he was disappointed with Fianna Fáil slipping to third in the popularity stakes, two points behind Labour and 10 behind Fine Gael’s 32%.

He said the result would not deter the Government from the policies plotted to deal with the economic crisis.

However, Mr Gilmore said the 14% approval rating revealed in yesterday’s poll questioned whether Mr Cowen still had a mandate.

“It is very difficult to see how a Government with those poll ratings can continue to have the authority to govern and particularly to have the authority to govern in the difficult times that we are in,” he said.

Mr Gilmore said measures like the pensions’ levy should be suspended and an election called. If Mr Cowen granted his wish of an early ballot the Labour leader said he was working to ensure his party could exploit it.

“In my constituency I have seen the biggest increase in membership of the party I have ever seen.

“Now we want to hear from more people who would be interested in standing for election for the party... We have work to do on that and I don’t underestimate it,” he said.

Separately, Transport Minister Noel Dempsey warned Fianna Fáil backbenchers there would be no respite from the public backlash for some time. “I don’t think I need an opinion poll or anybody in Government needs an opinion poll to tell us that people are angry, they are very annoyed and they are fearful for jobs. We understand that perfectly and know that anger is there. That will be reflective in the polls and probably be reflected in the polls for sometime to come,” he told RTÉ.

Mr Dempsey’s coalition partner, the Greens, said it was pleased to keep its support steady at 4% in the Irish Times TNS/Mrbi poll, despite the “worst ever world recession”.

Meanwhile, the bounce for the Labour party has deflected attention from Fine Gael’s performance.

It is still the most popular party in the country, on 32%, but approval ratings for its leader Enda Kenny fell three points. Mr Kenny said his primary focus was translating the polls into a successful showing at the local and European elections in June.

“This is the fifth consecutive opinion poll which has shown Fine Gael attracting the highest level of public support of all the parties and the party is now an unprecedented 10 points clear of Fianna Fáil.

“I believe it reflects our consistently strong leadership on the key areas of public concern at a time of financial crisis” he said.

Mr Dempsey accepted the evaporation of its support base could continue beyond the elections.