Martin now favourite for FF leadership

A new poll has revealed that Micheál Martin is favourite to take over from Brian Cowen as leader of Fianna Fáil.

The IPSOS-MRI poll in today's Irish Times shows that Brian Lenihan is the second favourite followed by Mary Hanafin in third place.

Minister Martin is now favourite with voters, on 28%, to lead the party into the next election.

This signifies a major shift in public opinion since the last survey in September, when Finance Minister Brian Lenihan gained a lead of more than two to one over Mr Martin.

The poll also reveals that almost two thirds of people think Brian Cowen should not lead Fianna Fáil into the forthcoming General Election.

In the event of a Fine Gael/Labour coalition, voters would prefer to see Eamon Gilmore as Taoiseach.

Mr. Gilmore is on 43%, while Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny is on 28%.

The news is likely to come as a further disappointment to Enda Kenny, who has failed so far to make the gains expected of him ahead of the election.