Fianna Fáil gets pre-budget boost

29 March 2009  By Pat Leahy

Support for Fianna Fáil has increased sharply in recent weeks, giving the government a boost ahead of the April 7 budget. Against a background of worsening economic news and warnings about a severe budget package, the huge declines in support for Fianna Fáil have been partially reversed in the latest Sunday Business Post/Red C tracking poll.

The party’s support has increased five points to 28 per cent since the last poll a month ago.

The gains for Fianna Fáil come at the expense of the Labour Party, whose support has dropped by five points. However, this should be seen against a background of an eight-point jump last month. The big swings in party support underline the current political volatility.

Support for Fine Gael is steady, rising by one point to 31 per cent. The latest poll findings end a period in which the Fine Gael vote – while consistently ahead of Fianna Fáil – was slipping slowly.

Sinn Féin sees a sharp drop in its support, while there has been a small increase for the Green Party. Support for the Lisbon Treaty remains strong, with a majority of over 2:1 in favour of the treaty.

The number of voters who are undecided about the treaty is relatively low, at 15 per cent.

The poll also showed that voters had little faith in the government’s management of the public finances, though only 30 per cent felt that Fine Gael and Labour would do a better job.