OPINION POLLS:FORMER GOVERNMENT minister Jim McDaid has said that if Fianna Fáil performs poorly in next weekend's election, the party should consider going into opposition for the remainder of this Dáil term.
Dr McDaid said yesterday he was very concerned at Fianna Fáil’s low ratings in opinion polls. If the result of the elections were as bad as have been predicted, he said, the party would have to “listen to the people”.
However, Dr McDaid said a general election was the last thing people wanted. He also said that he wanted Taoiseach Brian Cowen to remain as leader of Fianna Fáil.
Citing the precedent when the Rainbow coalition took over from the Fianna Fáil-led coalition in 1994, without triggering an election, he said Mr Cowen should formally request President Mary McAleese to ask the Opposition to form a new government.
“This country does not need a general election. Fine Gael and Labour, both of whom are milking the current situation, would have to take responsibility for their utterances.
“Brian Cowen would gain in stature. He would be seen as a statesman, as he would the low confidence in him and the Government at present,” he said.
Dr McDaid is currently not a member of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party having had the whip removed after failing to support the Government in a Dáil vote. He denied he was asking Mr Cowen to “fall on his sword” saying the Taoiseach remained the most capable person to lead the party.
A Government spokesman said yesterday that Mr McDaid was expressing a “personal opinion”.
“The members and supporters of the party are made of sterner stuff than that,” a senior member of the party said.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said yesterday the party would need to convince voters that difficult decisions had been taken in the national interest. Senior party sources also dismissed as “ludicrous” suggestions the party could lose as many as 80 of its current 300 seats in the local elections.
The response of Fianna Fáil Ministers and TDs to the results of the latest Irish Times/TNSmrbi poll was more muted, with many acknowledging the difficulties the party faced but disputing claims it was facing heavy losses. The party begins its final push today before polling on Friday. Mr Cowen will host a press conference in Dublin this morning and canvass in Cavan and Monaghan later.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore made public appearances yesterday. They also separately attended the Cork versus Tipperary Munster Championship hurling game in Thurles.
Several TDs said their experiences while canvassing did not tally with the poll results. Darragh O’Brien (Dublin North); Niall Collins (Limerick West); Frank Fahey (Galway West); Micheál Kitt (Galway East) and Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South) all said the reaction was positive.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said he hoped people would use the elections next Friday as an opportunity to cast a verdict on the way the Government had “mismanaged the economy.” He said it might also coerce the Green Party to “see sense and precipitate a general election”.
Green Party leader John Gormley conceded The Irish Times poll suggested the Government was unpopular. “The fact is that we are working well in Government and delivering policies.
“We have tried to highlight the fact that in terms of planning we have the best record and that we are the one party that has not taken a penny from any of the banks, or from Frank Dunlop.”
The Socialist Party’s candidate in the Dublin European election, Joe Higgins, said his strong showing in the poll reflected that he was in a major contest for the last seat. He said he would “fight right up to Friday to cause a major upset in the capital.”