Budget 2011 - Our needs third on a list of three

AS the cabinet gathers at Farmleigh today to continue Budget 2011 preparations, it matters little that Fianna Fáil’s rating is at an all-time low.

There are more pressing issues at hand and though the party’s fate seems beyond redemption there is, for the rest of us, something still to play for.

At the 2007 general election Fianna Fáil won the support of 42% of the electorate but the weekend Sunday Business Post poll shows that support has collapsed to 18%. Fine Gael are up one point at 32% and Labour are up four points at 27%.