Friday, May 13, 2016

Just over half of voters have no confidence in the new Fine Gael and Independent government, a new poll has found.

The Red C survey also discovered that half of those questioned think it is time for the Taoiseach to resign.

In this poll, 52% of voters said they had no confidence in the Government, while 45% said it would last less than a year.

The poll was conducted by Red C on behalf of Paddy Power.

They interviewed a random sample of 1,015 adults aged over 18 by telephone between May 9 and 11.

Almost half (48%) of all voters want Enda Kenny to step down immediately as Taoiseach, with Leo Varadkar the most popular successor.

Varadkar has the support of 32% of voters, ahead of Simon Coveney on 25%.

The poll also measured support for individual parties, with Fine Gael retaining a two-point lead over Fianna Fáil.

Despite the slow pace of forming the new Givernment, support for most of the major parties remains within the margin of error of the election result, meaning few people have changed their minds on how they would vote if an election were held right now.

On social issues, three in five (60%) agreed it should be made illegal for schools in receipt of any State funding to use religion as a criterion for admission, and close to two thirds of voters (62%) agreed the Gardaí should be armed to protect themselves and citizens against mob violence.

Selected poll findings:

Fine Gael (27%) retain a small lead over Fianna Fail (25%);

Sinn Féin support is up to 16%, a rise of about 2%;

Labour support is at 5%, which is 2% below what they achieved at the last election;

Independents are down 4% to 9% in this poll, with the Independent Alliance down 1% since the election;

Well over half of all voters (56%) believe that the lack of a government has been harmful to the economy;

Close to half of all voters (48%) believe that Enda Kenny should step down now as leader of Fine Gael and Taoiseach, including 18% of Fine Gael voters; while a further 18% believe he should go in the next 1-2 years. Just 1 in 4 believe he should stay the full length of his term in office;

A significant proportion of voters (61%) believe that Irish Water should now be abolished, with those in younger age groups and Sinn Féin supporters most likely to feel this;

Over two thirds (71%) also believe that those who have paid their water charges to date should be refunded, while only around a third of voters (34%) feel that those who haven’t paid should be perused through the courts for payment.