A dramatic new poll shows that the Labour Party would form the majority party in the next government in Ireland and elect the Prime Minister if the election were held today. There has never been a Labour-led government in Ireland.

According to the national poll commissioned by Irish television broadcaster TV3, the Labour party is set to emerge as the strongest political party in Ireland with 35% of first preference votes. The findings suggest that Ireland’s third largest political party is gaining support at an incredibly fast level.

Fine Gael have 30 per cent of the vote and Fianna Fail, the  main government party are at just . 22 per cent. The Fine Gael poll numbers are a dramatic setback for party leader Enda Kenny who recently turned back a coup against him from within the party and was very much hoping to have united the party behind him.

However, the poll also shows that only 53 per cent of his own party believe he should be the next Prime Minister.

The poll concluded that the leader of Labour, Eamon Gilmore is the most popular choice for Prime Minister. Thirty six percent opted for him, compared to 19% for Enda Kenny and just 11% for Brian Cowen.

Judging from the results, support for Labour has dramatically increased which could lead the way for a Labour run government in the next election.

Gilmore also rated highest in satisfactory ratings for party leaders with 58% net in comparison to 24% for Enda Kenny and 18% for Brian Cowen.

Other key findings of the poll found that 71% or those surveyed believe that the current Prime Minister Brian Cowen lost considerable credibility as a result of his infamous radio interview last week when it was alleged that he was drunk.

The poll was conducted for TV3 by Milward Brown Lansdowne who contacted one thousand voters across the country as part of their research.