The joint invitation issued on behalf of the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and his partner for the State reception for Cardinal Connell was inappropriate, according to almost half of those questioned in an opinion poll.
The IMS poll found that 47 per cent thought it was wrong to issue the invitation in the names of Mr Ahern and Ms Celia Larkin, while 38 per cent believed it was the right thing to do. Some 15 per cent had no opinion when questioned for the Sunday Independent poll.
When asked if it was right that Ms Larkin maintained a low profile at the reception in Dublin Castle last Monday night, a clear majority, 55 per cent, agreed, while 32 per cent were of the opposite opinion. Some 13 per cent said they did not know, or had no opinion.
The poll found that support for Ms Larkin's status as "First Lady" has fallen by 7 per cent to 43 per cent since February last year. Those most clearly in favour of Ms Larkin are single women, 47 per cent of whom believed the invitation should have been issued in joint names.
Some 54 per cent of those surveyed disagreed with the decision of the Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, the Very Rev Robert MacCarthy, to turn down an invitation to the reception, and less than a third felt he was right not to attend.
The poll, which was conducted on Thursday, among 1,104 adults at 100 locations around the State, found satisfaction with the Government was at 61 per cent, dissatisfaction was 33 per cent and 6 per cent did not know how they felt about the Government's performance.
Mr Ahern was the most popular party leader with a satisfaction rating of 65 per cent, while Ms Mary Harney received 59 per cent. The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, was at 52 per cent and the new Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, registered a 40 per cent satisfaction rating.
The state of the parties showed Fianna Fail registering 49 per cent; Fine Gael at 24 per cent; Labour 13 per cent; Progressive Democrats 3 per cent; Green Party 5 per cent; Sinn Fein 4 per cent; Workers' Party 1 per cent; and Others 2 per cent.