POLL REACTION:MINISTER FOR Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has said there are no question marks about Taoiseach Brian Cowen's position following historically low showings for Fianna Fáil and for a serving taoiseach in the latest Irish Times opinon poll.
Reacting to the TNS mrbi poll for this newspaper, Mr Martin said the findings, which showed his party support at 17 per cent, was disappointing but would not distract the Government from its primary focus of dealing with the economic crisis.
“The fate of political parties takes second place to the fate of the country,” he said.
Mr Martin also said that Fianna Fáil was aware of the trends and its performance had to be viewed in the context of the worst global economic recession since 1929.
His Cabinet colleague Dermot Ahern disputed the proposition that Mr Cowen was a liability to the party, on the evidence of a 15 per cent satisfaction rating.
“We don’t have a history of changing our leader because of political polls. The Taoiseach is working extremely hard at the difficult issues, as are the Government . . . Unfortunately we’re not going to court popularity, we appreciate that.
“But we’re not going to do what other governments did in the 70s and 80s and flunk the responsibilities and try and put off the evil day,” he said.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said that the poll was bad news for the Government, indicating that people were grossly unhappy with the performance of Government and with the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).
Asked about his own satisfaction rating, which lags behind that of his party, he said: “I heard the national broadcaster [RTÉ] say that Enda Kenny is no Barack Obama and is no Tony Blair.
“Enda Kenny has no intention of being Barack Obama or Tony Blair. I am Enda Kenny and that is who I am and that is my job.”
He said that as party leader, he had spent the past seven years rebuilding the party and injecting it with “steel and determination”.
“Those who write off Kenny, I would say to them: watch this space,” he concluded.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the poll results were unsurprising and reflected a desire for political change.
“I think that there is a deep sense among people that Fianna Fáil got us into this mess,” he said.
Mr Gilmore said that the clear message from the poll was that the public wanted a general election now, but said that it was his belief Fianna Fáil would ignore that message.
Green Party leader John Gormley said the results were very disappointing but were to be expected in circumstance where people were feeling the pain in a country with rising unemployment and a sense of uncertainty.
“It’s up to the Government now to give people that certainty, to get back on the road to recovery and to get us back on a real trajectory of sustainable economic growth,” he said.
Mr Gormley said the odds were against an early election, but there were difficult decisions to be made on Lisbon, Nama, and renegotiation of the programme for government.
Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said that the poll would increase uncertainty about the Government.
“I expect over the coming weeks that those jitters will become more obvious,” he said.
