Support for the Taoiseach and the Government has reached a record low while support for the Labour Party and its leader Mr Pat Rabbite has soared, according to the latest Irish Times/TNS mrbipoll to be published tomorrow.
According to the poll, satisfaction with the Government is at 28 per cent, down three points since the last poll was conducted last February. The is the lowest satisfaction rating for the Government since the Mr Ahern became leader of Fianna Fáil.
Satisfaction with Mr Ahern is at 41 per cent, down two per cent on the February poll. This is the Mr Ahern's lowest satisfaction rating since he took power in 1997.
For the first time the Labour Party leader Mr Pat Rabbitte is the most popular party leader, according to the poll, scoring a 49 per cent satisfaction rating. This is up five points since February. Mr Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin is the second most popular leader (48 per cent, up two points), followed by the Tánaiste and Progressive Democrats leader Ms Harney (45 per cent, unchanged), and the Taoiseach, who is the forth most popular party leader.
Satisfaction with Fine Gael leader Mr Enda Kenny is at 26 per cent, three points down on the February survey, while Green Party leader Mr Trevor Sargent has seen a large drop of 10 points since February and also has a satisfaction rating of 26 per cent.
Support for the Labour Party has jumped six percentage points to 22 per cent since the February poll, meaning the party has overtaken Fine Gael as the second largest political party. Fine Gael dropped two points and now has 20 per cent support, according to the poll. Fianna Fáil remains unchanged at 32 per cent.
Sinn Féin has nine per cent support, followed by Others (9 per cent), the Progressive Democrats (4 per cent, down two) and the Green Party (9 per cent, down two).
Sixty five per cent of those questioned for the opinion poll said they were dissatisfied with the Government, while seven per cent said they had no opinion.
The poll was conducted amongst a national quota sample of 1,000 voters at 100 sample points in all constituencies in the State last Monday and Tuesday. It was timed to mark Saturday's first anniversary of the 2002 General Election.
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