Voters want a general election this year but more people say neither Brian Cowen or Enda Kenny should be Taoiseach than support either of them, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll.
Offered the choice if the Fianna Fail or Fine Gael leader as Taoiseach 40 per cent of voters said in an unprompted response that they did not want either of them in the job while 9 per cent had no opinion.
Of the rest 30 per cent favoured Mr Kenny for the Taoiseach’s office while 21 per cent favoured Mr Cowen.
More people across all age groups and social classes said they did not want either of the two party leaders as Taoiseach after the next election.
The poll was taken on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week among a representative sample of 1,000 voters aged 18 and over, in face-to-face interviews at 100 sampling points in all 43 constituencies. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 per cent.
A clear majority of voters said by a margin of 57 per cent to 35 per cent that they wanted to see a general election being held this year.
Voters in Dublin were strongest in favour of an election this year by a margin of more than two to one while people living in Connacht Ulster were most evenly divided on the issue.
In age terms the youngest categories were most strongly in favour of an early election while people in the over 55 age brackets were almost evenly divided on the issue with those in favour only ahead by a small margin.
There was a similar response to a question on whether the three outstanding by elections to the Dail in Donegal South West, Dublin South and Waterford should be held now.
