Poll confirms mood for change
It is with a feeling of vindication that I welcome the results of the latest tns/mrbi opinion poll published today, Friday. This poll disposes of the myth being put forward by some commentators over recent months that the ‘election is over’ and that the Fianna Fail/PD coalition is ‘on course for re-election’. The poll would also appear to suggest that the unexpected ‘bounce’ that Fianna Fail received from the Bertiegate affair has begun to dissolve and that the budget and the NDP have not delivered the electoral bonus that they had expected. And it would appear to confirm that the Progressive Democrats are in very deep trouble.
The similar poll in the Irish Times (December 3) put the combined vote of Fianna Fail and the PDs at 43% - five points ahead of the combined Labour/Fine Gael vote. In this poll the Fianna Fail/PD (38%) vote is just a single point ahead of the combined Labour/Fine Gael vote. If the Green Party vote was included in the ‘alternative government’ the combined vote would be 45% - well within reach of an overall majority. One particularly encouraging feature for us is the continuing strong approval rating for the Party Leader, Pat Rabbitte. His poll ratings have been consistently in the mid to high forties. Indeed he is the only one of the six party leaders whose approval ratings have never fallen below 40% over the period of these polls going back to 2003
The recently announced health policy, published by Labour and Fine Gael, to provide free GP cards to all children under 5, combined with the proposal to provide free health insurance to all children under 16 has yet to feature in the polls. This groundbreaking policy will see more consultants and hospital beds delivered to give hard working families and older peoplle the health system they deserve. The election is still there to be won and lost. The objective of putting this government out of office and replacing it with a government for change, is entirely achievable,"concluded Harry Barrett.
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Barrett explains, "The similar poll in the Irish Times (December 3) put the combined vote of Fianna Fail and the PDs at 43% - five points ahead of the combined Labour/Fine Gael vote. In this poll the Fianna Fail/PD (38%) vote is just a single point ahead of the combined Labour/Fine Gael vote. If the Green Party vote was included in the ‘alternative government’ the combined vote would be 45% - well within reach of an overall majority. "One particularly encouraging feature for us is the continuing strong approval rating for the Party Leader, Pat Rabbitte. His poll ratings have been consistently in the mid to high forties. Indeed he is the only one of the six party leaders whose approval ratings have never fallen below 40% over the period of these polls going back to 2003 "The recently announced health policy, published by Labour and Fine Gael, to provide free GP cards to all children under 5, combined with the proposal to provide free health insurance to all children under 16 has yet to feature in the polls. This groundbreaking policy will see more consultants and hospital beds delivered to give hard working families and older peoplle the health system they deserve. The election is still there to be won and lost. The objective of putting this government out of office and replacing it with a government for change, is entirely achievable,"concluded Harry Barrett.
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