Pictured (L to R) Roisin Phelan, Senator Catherine Noone, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Regina Doherty TD, and Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe TD. Mr. Kenny was receiving an Ultrasound to check his blood flow at the Centric Health & HSE Primary Care Centre in Dublin, this after the launch of Fine Gael’s “Plan for Health, Investing in Our Health Services.” RollingNews.ie photo
By Evan Short
The latest election poll tracking the fortunes of Irish political parties ahead of next week’s election has made good reading for Sinn Féin.
The Red C/Sunday Business Post tracking poll shows that the party are up three points to 20 percent, with government party Fine Gael slipping three points to 28 percent.
Fine Gael’s coalition partner, Labour, is also down by two points to just 8 percent. Fianna Fáil is own by one point to 18 percent.
While Sinn Féin are doing well with working class voters, their popularity amongst the middle class is down according to the pollsters.
Richard Colwell from Red C said the party was getting its message across better than its rivals.
“Sinn Féin appear to be the party that have best got their message across in the first week of the GE16 campaign, resulting in a 3 percent rise in support that suggests a connection with some voters,” Colwell said.
These gains also need to be put into the context of the fact that many commentators believed their support would in fact fall in the wake of possible links by association of the party to the gang shootings in Dublin.”
Meanwhile, in the latest television debate between the party leaders, Gerry Adams has again been accused of not coming clean about his links to the IRA.
Fianna Faíl leader Micheál Martin told the Sinn Féin president that there “isn’t a guard in the country who doesn’t believe you were in the IRA.”
This was said after Adams had told Deputy Martin to go to the gardaí if he had any information that he had been a member of the organization.
The other notable comment on the night was that Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he wouldn’t be willing to form a coalition government with Fianna Fáil.
Kenny had initially refused to rule out such a linkup after next week’s election, but appeared to change his mind during the debate which took place in Limerick.
