A new opinion poll shows the current coalition parties opening up a bigger lead over the Fine Gael and Labour alternative.
The Red C poll in tomorrow's Sunday Business Post shows Fianna Fáil with its highest support, and Fine Gael its lowest, since this series of polls by polling company Red C began a year ago.
Their first poll of what will be an election year is very good news indeed for the current coalition - and correspondingly bad news for the main Opposition parties.
The poll was conducted between Monday and Wednesday of this week, meaning support for the Government may have been boosted by the launch of the National Development Plan on Tuesday.
Even allowing for that, the results are still very good for Fianna Fáil. The party is up three points to 42%, the party's highest score in this series of polls.
Fine Gael, by contrast, is down two points to 21%. Labour at 12% is unchanged, as are the Greens at 7%.
Sinn Féin is down one to 7%, the PDs are down one to 3%, while Independents and others are up one to 8%.
This means that Fianna Fáil and the PDs, on 45%, are 12 points clear of Fine Gael and Labour, the widest margin they have enjoyed in this year-long series.
The poll also found that 79% of voters approve of Sinn Féin agreeing to support policing in Northern Ireland, with 56% of voters saying they would be more likely to vote for the party if they decide to do so.
