The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, looks set to secure an historic third term in Government for his Fianna Fail and Progressive Democrats coalition at the next General Election, a new poll showed today.
It reveals Fianna Fail has won back the 42 per cent support it achieved in the 2002 General Election while Mr Ahern's personal rating has climbed 6 points to 61 per cent since November.
The mid-term Millward Brown IMS poll also reveals that an alternative Fine Gael/Labour/Greens government trails behind in voters' opinions.
Despite the overall 51% satisfaction rate for the Government, the PDs are down 1 per cent while Tanaiste, Ms Harney's, popularity has fallen by 3 percentage points.
Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, sees a 3% drop in party support to 20 per cent but his own personal rating is up 1 per cent to 46 per cent since November.
The party ratings are: FF 42 per cent (up 5 since November); FG 20 per cent (down 3); Labour 12 per cent (down 1); Sinn Fein 9 per cent (down 1); Greens 5 per cent (unchanged); PDs 3 per cent (down 1); and Independents/others, 10 per cent (up 1).
The poll, published in this morning’s Irish Independent, shows that 27 per cent of people said they would vote for the present Government at the next General Election, just 3 per cent ahead of a Fine Gael/Labour/Greens combination.
Fianna Fail has recovered well from its worst-ever local election results last June and has won popular support with its emphasis on socially-conscious policies, the economic up-turn and its handling of the crisis in the Northern Ireland peace process.
The poll was carried out among more than 1,000 voters across all constituencies on Tuesday and Wednesday.