Tánaiste and Progressive Democrat leader Michael McDowell has predicted that Fianna Fáil will be returned to power at the next election, and that the only question was which party it will coalesce with.
In an interview on RTÉ radio, Mr McDowell again attempted to portray the prospect of a rainbow coalition led by Fine Gael and Labour as being "dead", and said that a coalition between his own party and Fianna Fáil was one of only two realistic outcomes from the election.
"It's a lead balloon that's going nowhere," he said of the rainbow alternative. "It will come down really to Labour and FF, or the Progressive Democrats and Fianna Fáil, and those will be the fundamental choices that will be made. And I'm very confident that people will decisively reject the rainbow."
He pointed to the latest Sunday Business Post/Red Sea opinion poll which showed the PDs and Fianna Fáil with a 12-point lead on Labour and Fine Gael.
According to the poll, since last November Fianna Fáil support rose by three points to 42 per cent; Fine Gael dropped two points to 21 per cent.This is the highest and lowest scores in that series of polls since they began last year.
Labour at 12 per cent is unchanged, as are the Greens at 7 per cent. Sinn Féin is down one to 7 per cent, the PDs decreased by one to 3 per cent, while Independents and others are up one to 8 per cent.
Speaking on RTÉ's This Week, Mr McDowell also rejected suggestions from focus group research that he was a divisive figure disliked by a considerable proportion of the electorate.
"I just don't know anybody who hates me, and I certainly don't feel any vibes of hatred when I go around the country. I get a very, very good reaction from the people I go and talk to."