Labour bounce could win 20 seats

Labour could hold onto 20 Dáil seats if the results of an opinion poll showing a ‘Burton bounce’ were to be replicated in a general election.

Support for Labour has doubled since the May local elections, during which the party was almost wiped out — particularly in the Munster area — leading analysts to predict that it would retain just two Dáil seats after 2016.

The Behaviour and Attitudes poll, which involved interviews with 954 voters in all 43 constituencies, published in yesterday’s Sunday Times, found that Sinn Féin, at 19%, is ahead of Fianna Fáil with 18%.