Fine Gael are celebrating a Blue Monday with yet another endorsement of their bid for government in the latest opinion poll.
Fresh from their weekend’s success in the Sunday Independent and Business Post, the Blueshirts are now Top of the Pops with Irish Times readers.
The latest Ipsos MRBI opinion poll, published in Monday’s Times, shows Enda Kenny’s party with twice as much support as their nearest rivals, Labour.
And Kenny is again the preferred choice as Taoiseach, just as he was in both the weekend polls ahead of Friday’s polling.
Kenny now enjoys 34 per cent support for the most important job in the land with Micheal Martin and Eamon Gilmore neck and neck on 22 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.
Satisfaction with Kenny’s leadership is up seven points to 37 per cent.
Fianna Fail’s recently elected leader Micheal Martin is up four points to 29 per cent in the satisfaction poll while Labour’s Gilmore is down four points to 40%.
Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams, on 29%, and Green Party leader John Gormley, on 19%, are both up.
In party terms, Fine Gael are up 4% since the election was called to 37% support with Labour down five points to 19 per cent.
Fianna Fail have gained one to 16%, Sinn Fein are down one to 11% and the Greens are up one to 2%. Independents and others are unchanged at 15%.
The Irish Times survey also concludes that Fine Gael are now the most popular party in every region of the country and has passed Labour in Dublin for the first time in recent years.
A Fine Gael/Labour coalition remains the most popular choice for the composition of the next government although support is growing for a single party Fine Gael cabinet with the backing of independents.
Support for the outgoing Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s government continues to fall.
Satisfaction with the Fianna Fail/Green Party coalition is down to a record low of 4% but satisfaction with Cowen’s performance is up 2% to 10 per cent.
According to the Irish Times poll, 68 per cent of the electorate have already made up their minds about how they will vote but a crucial 30% are still undecided before Friday’s election.
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