Poll shows satisfaction with Irish politicians among the highest in Europe

Satisfaction ratings for Irish politicians are among the highest in Europe, a new poll has found.

The poll, which was carried out in seven countries, found that 37% of Irish people are satisfied with the performance of politicians.

This is in contrast to Italy, where just 7% of respondents expressed satisfaction with their elected representatives.

Red C carried out the survey in Ireland, and its CEO Richard Colwell says most Irish people think politicians reflect the overall population.

"Across Western Europe, [satisfaction] is far lower than you see here," he said.

"In Ireland, we have 58% who believe our political leaders are a good reflection of the population, whereas, across the rest of Western Europe, it's only 28%."

According to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has the highest approval rating for any head of government since Bertie Ahern in 2007, with 58% of people saying that the country is “generally going in the right direction”.