Farmers: Confidence and supply deal has hurt Fianna Fáil

Fianna Fáil has been damaged by entering and sticking with the confidence and supply agreement with Fine Gael, a majority of farming voters believe.

The finding is revealed in a national poll for the Irish Examiner, carried out by Behaviour and Attitudes.

Pressure is mounting on Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin amid growing frustration within his own supporters.

“There is no hiding from the fact, the deal is hurting us, but there is no obvious way out of it without causing an election,” said one senior party figure.

According to the poll, and discounting those who did not express a view, a majority, 65%, of those polled have said they agree that the decision of the party to prop up the minority Government has inflicted harm on it.

Just one in 10 people polled said they felt the deal had helped the party, while just another 14% of people said they slightly disagreed with the question.

When the underlying demographic trends are examined, it would appear that a majority of identified Fianna Fáil supporters, 57%, agree that the party has been damaged by the confidence and supply deal.

While many of his own Dáil troops are unhappy, the farming public marginally feel the party is better under Mr Martin with 45% agreeing with the proposal when put to them by pollsters.

Fianna Fáil TD Jim O'Callaghan says he doesn't see his party's Confidence and Supply deal with the Government being renewed without major policy changes on health and housing. pic.twitter.com/xXJo6G3jhc

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) September 18, 2018

However, almost one in three, 30%, either strongly or slightly felt the party was worse off under Mr Martin’s leadership.

In terms of identified Fianna Fáil voters, three out of five voters agree with the proposition that the party is better off under Mr Martin’s leadership.

When looking at the age profile of voting intentions and sentiment, those over 65 are most inclined to say that Mr Martin has been a good leader but that the deal with Fine Gael has damaged the party, our poll shows.

The poll also reveals that a ‘Grand Coalition’ between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is the overwhelming top choice for the next government among farming voters.

Since the last comparable poll last year, the support for such a union has risen four points from 35% to 39%.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney says the sooner the negotiations on the Confidence and Supply deal with Fianna Fáil are resolved the better. pic.twitter.com/s04g0tvZO4

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) September 18, 2018

A long way behind, the next favoured option is a coalition between Fianna Fáil and Independents. Support for this has dropped from 16% to 13%, which is one point ahead of a union of Fine Gael and Independents, which dropped from 16% to 12%.

There were increases in support for a coalition both between Fine Gael and Sinn Féin, from 4% to 8%, and between Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin, from 5% to 8%, but both from very low bases.

Among farmers, Sinn Féin, despite the change of leader, remains an unpalatable option.

Asked whether the change of leadership from Gerry Adams to Mary Lou McDonald made Sinn Féin more attractive, just 21% of respondents said it did.

In total, 62%, or almost two- thirds of those polled disagreed.

Almost half of those polled, 48%, strongly disagreed with the proposition that they would be more likely to vote for Sinn Féin now than when Mr Adams was in charge.

The Ploughing Championship will open at the later time of 11am today due to adverse weather. It will also stay open an extra hour, closing at 7pm.