Poll shows FF has retained support

A new opinion poll shows Fianna Fail has retained the increased support it gained since the controversy over cash payments to…

A new opinion poll shows Fianna Fail has retained the increased support it gained since the controversy over cash payments to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

The Red C poll - published in today's Sunday Business Post - shows the senior coalition partner remains at 39 per cent while Fine Gael is unchanged at 23 per cent.

Labour is up two to 12 per cent while Sinn Fein drops two points to 8 per cent.

The Greens are also down one point to 7 per cent while the Progressive Democrats are up one to 4 per cent and Independents and others are unchanged at 7 per cent.

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Minister for Education Mary Hanafin claimed voters are slowly realising they do not want a change in Government.

Ms Hanafin said today: "People are focusing this autumn on the type of government they want and are looking forward to the next general election. "The underlying trend, as it has been for the past few months, is that support for Fianna Fail is on the up.

"It doesn't surprise me to be honest, because once people focused on the alternative, they looked at the one million euro billboard campaign for Fine Gael with Enda Kenny looking down at every bus stop that isn't having an impact."

She added: "People are looking to policies and alternatives and realising they don't want to change."

The Taoiseach faced the biggest crisis of his current term during September and October when Mahon Tribunal leaks revealed that he had accepted separate cash payments from Dublin friends and Manchester businessmen when he was Finance Minister in the early 1990s.