Local issues the top factor for voters’ first preferences

THE economy and jobs are by far the biggest issues influencing how voters in Cork North Central will cast their ballot, but candidates’ work on local issues is the single biggest factor in who they will choose to give their first preference.

The Irish Examiner/RedC poll in the constituency found that 28% of those surveyed based their No 1 vote on local issues on which the candidate has taken a stance, higher than the appeal of the individual (22%), party (18%) or policy (17%) preferences, and with just 7% choosing a candidate based on their preference for his or her party leader.

But this ranged from 2% and 4% respectively for Fine Gael’s Pat Burton and Dara Murphy, to a very high 20% of Billy Kelleher’s backers, showing that Micheál Martin’s profile is key to the former junior minister’s hopes of clinging on to his Dáil seat.