Fine Gael has widened its lead over Fianna Fáil and is on course to win more than 60 seats in the next general election despite the fact that support for party leader Enda Kenny continues to decline, according to an opinion poll published this morning.
The Millward Brown IMS poll published in today's Irish Independent shows support for Fine Gael increasing by 4 per cent to 34 per cent over the course of the last 12 months.
Support for Fianna Fail has steadied and is up two points to 27 per cent while Labour has seen its support fall 3 per cent to 19 per cent.
The news is even worse for the Green Party which is now on just 2 per cent, down from 5 per cent last year. Sinn Féin has gained one to 8 per cent and the independents are steady at 10 per cent.
The poll shows that despite the fall-off in support for his party, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore remains the most popular party leader with his satisfaction rating up by 2 per cent to 54 per cent.
By contrast, Mr Kenny’s satisfaction rating is down 3 to 26 per cent year-on-year with his dissatisfaction rating with voters now on 61 per cent up 4 per cent, his lowest satisfaction rating since October 2003.
The poll shows that just 10 per cent of voters are satisfied with the Government's performance.