Gallagher surges in Áras race as Norris struggles

SEAN GALLAGHER has surged into second place in the presidential race but David Norris’s support has collapsed following a series of personal controversies.

Gay Mitchell is also struggling, confirming the worst fears of senior figures in Fine Gael who believe the party chose the wrong candidate.

The latest opinion poll shows a dramatic change in fortunes for several of the seven candidates.

Labour’s Michael D Higgins is in pole position to win the presidency on 23% of first-preference support, up five points since the previous poll in the Ipsos MRBI series in July.

But Independent candidate Mr Gallagher has surged into second place and is close behind Mr Higgins on 20%, an increase of seven points since the summer.

Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness is on 19%. He was not included in the July poll as he had not declared his candidacy at that stage.

Independent Mary Davis is unchanged at 12%, indicating that she is struggling to gain traction.

But Mr Norris, also an Independent and once the frontrunner for the Áras, is the big loser, down 14 points to just 11%.

The poll indicates that the controversies embroiling his campaign — such as the clemency letters written for a former lover and his views on the age of consent — have all but ended his hopes for the Áras.

Gay Mitchell’s campaign also appears doomed, with the Fine Gael candidate on just 9%, down 11 points since July.

The findings indicate that his strategy of seeking to present himself as the main alternative to Mr McGuinness by attacking the Sinn Féin candidate has backfired and alienated voters.

The findings also suggest that a large number of Fine Gael supporters are backing other candidates.

Independent candidate Dana Rosemary Scallon, who like Mr McGuinness was not in the previous poll, brings up the field on 6%.

Mr Higgins is the most transfer-friendly of the candidates, which significantly boosts his chances of winning.

Mr Gallagher is also securing a high number of second preferences, according to the poll, but Mr McGuinness is the least transfer-friendly.

The poll was conducted for The Irish Times on Monday and Tuesday of this week, after last Friday’s Late Late Show debate among the candidates, but before Tuesday night’s TV3 debate.

The survey was conducted among a representative sample of 1,000 voters aged 18 and over, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3%.

Meanwhile, Mr Norris admitted yesterday that he had received disability payments over a 16-year period from Trinity College Dublin while continuing to work as a senator.

Mr Norris said he had contracted hepatitis after drinking contaminated water while travelling in 1994 in central Europe, was hospitalised for several weeks, and was put on permanent disability by Trinity a year later.

But speaking at his official campaign launch yesterday, Mr Norris stressed that he was healthy enough to assume the presidency if elected.