Massive boost for FG as Gilmore labours

FINE GAEL got a huge boost last night after a poll showed it in prime position to lead the next government, with Labour suffering a major drop in support and Fianna Fáil continuing to crash.

After a bumpy few months, the poll will serve as an early Christmas present for Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, consolidating his position and confirming the expectation that he will be the next taoiseach. In contrast, it will weaken Labour leader Eamon Gilmore’s claim his party can win enough seats to be the senior partner in the coalition and make him taoiseach.

With Government support slumping to record lows, meanwhile, the poll will do nothing to ease the fears of Fianna Fáil backbenchers about going into the election with Taoiseach Brian Cowen as leader. But with the Dáil rising for the Christmas break today, Mr Cowen is safe until the new year at least.

Details of the poll came as the Government rushed legislation through the Dáil to restructure the banks and also passed a motion supporting the EU/IMF bailout.

The corresponding poll three months ago had shown Labour in first place with Fine Gael some distance behind and level with Fianna Fáil — a result that placed renewed pressure on Mr Kenny.

But it was a different story last night with the poll showing Fine Gael leading on 30%, up six points since September. Labour were down eight points to 25%, while Fianna Fáil were down seven to 17%.

The poll showed a dramatic surge in Sinn Féin support, up seven to 15%. That will heighten Labour fears that it is losing support on its left to Sinn Féin. The Greens were unchanged at 2%, while Independents were up two to 11%. The margin of error in the poll, conducted by Ipsos MRBI for the Irish Times, was plus or minus 3%.

The poll showed nine in every 10 people are unhappy with the Government; with 90% expressing dissatisfaction; just 8% expressing satisfaction; and 2% saying they didn’t know.

Mr Cowen’s personal approval ratings are down five points to 14%. These were the lowest ratings recorded for any government or taoiseach since this polling series began.

It means Fianna Fáil backbenchers will continue to speculate about a new year heave against Mr Cowen in order to have a new leader in place for the election.

The Greens last night denied they had any plans to pull out of Government sooner than originally anticipated, which would force an earlier election.

Mr Cowen is in Brussels today for a European Council meeting that will be dominated by efforts to safeguard the eurozone.

The Government comfortably won Dáil votes yesterday to approve the EU/IMF bailout and pass legislation to restructure the banks as part of the bailout. However, Fine Gael claimed the bailout deal was a “downright obscenity” because of the interest rates the EU and IMF would charge in return for their loans.

Labour, meanwhile, claimed Finance Minister Brian Lenihan could “teach the North Koreans a lesson” because of the sweeping powers he has given himself in the legislation to restructure the banks.