Bailout exit gives Coalition lift in poll

The Coalition appears to have benefited from the clean exit from the troika bailout with support for both parties up a combined seven percentage points from a previous poll.

The Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll interviewed 1,000 people last Monday and Tuesday and excluding the ‘don’t knows’ showed Fine Gael up 4% at 30% and Labour up 3% at 9%. Good news on the economy, including 58,000 jobs created over the past year and Ireland being named the best small country to do business in, will also have boosted the Government’s popularity.

Labour will be pleased with an increase of three percentage points following its annual conference in Killarney, Co Kerry, at which party leader Eamon Gilmore called for tax cuts for the middle classes when the economy improves.

Fianna Fáil are unchanged at 22% while Sinn Féin was down 2% at 21% following Gerry Adams’s controversial comments in the wake of the Smithwick Tribunal. Others and independents dropped 5% to 18%.