FIANNA Fail would handle the Northern Ireland issue better than all of the other parties combined, according to an Irish Times/ MRBI opinion poll published today. Fine Gael and the Rainbow Government would best handle the issues of jobs and growth in the economy.
Fianna Fail also rates much higher than all of the other parties as the party which would best handle taxation and crime.
These are the main findings of the poll, which questioned voters on the party best equipped to handle the four most important issues in the election campaign. The first poll since the election was called a week ago was conducted among a national quota sample of 1,000 electors at 100 sampling points throughout all constituencies last Monday and Tuesday.
Asked which party would best handle the Northern Ireland problem, 43 per cent of electors responded Fianna Fail. The rating for the other parties is: Fine Gael 22 per cent, Labour 7 per cent, Progressive Democrats 2 per cent and Democratic Left 1 per cent. Some 6 per cent of voters said none of these parties, and 19 per cent offered no opinion.
On taxation, the parties' handling was rated: Fianna Fail 32 per cent, Fine Gael 23 per cent, Labour 8 per cent, PDs 8 per cent, DL 1 per cent, none of these 6 per cent, and no opinion 22 per cent.
Turning to crime, which all parties see as a dominant issue in the campaign, the party ratings are as follows: Fianna Fail 31 per cent, Fine Gael 25 per cent, Labour 4 per cent, PDs 8 per cent, DL 1 per cent, none of these 9 per cent, and no opinion 22 per cent.
The area of jobs and growth would be best handled by Fine Gael, according to those polled. The party ratings are: Fianna Fail 29 per cent, Fine Gael 30 per cent, Labour 12 per cent, PDs 5 per cent, DL 1 per cent, none of these 7 per cent, and no opinion 16 per cent.
When the party ratings are translated, by extension, to the two coalitions on offer in the election, the Fianna Fail/PD alliance would handle taxation (40 per cent to 32 per cent); crime (39 per cent to 30 per cent); and Northern Ireland (45 per cent to 30 per cent) better than the Rainbow Government. But on the question of jobs and growth the Rainbow parties would handle these issues better than the alternative (43 per cent to 34 per cent).
The poll reveals interesting findings about the rate of transfers between the two alternative alliances. Only 24 per cent of Fianna Fail voters, who would have plumped traditionally for their own party, are giving vote transfers to the Progressive Democrats. Conversely, 45 per cent of PD voters are transferring to Fianna Fail.
On the Government side, 38 per cent of Fine Gael voters are transferring to the Labour party. Only 4 per cent are transferring to Democratic Left. Some 45 per cent of Labour voters are transferring to Fine Gael, while 8 per cent of Labour voters are transferring to DL.
