The Taoiseach has firmly ruled out a general election until the summer of 2002. He told journalists this afternoon that the Government had been elected on a mandate to cover a full term of office and he intended to honour that. Mr Ahern was commenting on the latest opinion poll results which showed an increase in support for Fianna Fáil and a big rise in voter satisfaction with his performance. He said that the IMS findings in the Irish Independent survey gave the Government heart to continue with its work.
According to the survey, voter satisfaction with Fianna Fáil has risen from 36% last June to 39%, while the Progressive Democrats are up one to 3%. There was more good news for the leaders of the Coalition with their personal satisfaction ratings rising - up 13% for the Taoiseach to 66% and up 18% for the Tánaiste to 56%. While the Coalition leaders seem to have shrugged off the fallout from the O'Flaherty Affair, the Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, is still affected. Just over half those polled said they were dissatisfied with him.
There was bad news also for the main Opposition parties. Fine Gael at 19% are down two, the same as Labour who drop to 10%. Sinn Féin are up two to 5%, while the Greens remain unchanged at 4%. The personal satisfaction ratings of the Opposition leaders does not hold good news for them either. John Bruton remains unchanged at 40%, while Ruairí Quinn drops two points to 51%.
