I didn’t realise we had such a short memory or a stupid population

What exactly has Fianna Fail done to warrant this popularity rise?

Sometimes Irish politics baffles me

No, please.

Yes because people are silly

It won’t make a difference who is in government. This country will just have to sit through this recession.

No matter who is in government, people will always moan about them.

But I do think we are past the worst of this recession. Just personal opinion ;)

Civil servants are making the real decisions. Can we vote them out?

Do I think Fianna Fail will return to power in the next election? Yes
Do I want Fianna Fail to return to power in the next election? NO

Why were they allowed to poll so many estate agents?

I am shocked and puzzled to why people are seemingly forgiving and forgetting what the Fianna fail party had done to this country…… The present government is now cleaning up the mess of Fianna fail and they are flying down the polls while the lads who made the mess are getting all the glory??!

What a fickle and forgetful people we are if this poll accurately represents us all. That there is a chance that the party that gave us the promissory note and walked us into the arms of the IMF in the first place could come back in just one election is unbelievable.
FF is now led by the same failed ex-health minister who sat through all of those bad decisions and voted for them at cabinet. Not all of the FF faces from that shameful era have gone away and until they have then that party should have no place in government.
This is in no way a case of me cheer-leading the present lot, far from it. But in my opinion, this poll is sickening beyond belief.

I know Fine Gael are not great BUT the last time they were in government they left the country in the black (thats a good thing) Fine Fail SCREWED this coutry over.. if the people of Ireland vote them back in, they are bloody idiots!!!! And as for that rediculous photo.. its like a bad parody of a bad American politics movie!!!! Stop copying America.. they have their own issues! Get your own identity!!!

FF are a joke – if they were serious about repairing their reputation they would have cleared the decks of any and all faces associated with the last Government…it’s galling to watch them taking the high and mighty position with the current Gov over the Magdalene survivors – these women didn’t just appear overnight!!

They probably will on the basis that We as a Nation of People are as thick as 2 short planks as this party who brought Our Country to its current state are rising in the polls again. Incredulous are We really that stupid to think that there is only 2 parties fit to govern Our State as We see where this has got Us for the last 90 yrs. Emigration levels never sen since famine times & yet this party grows Our People have short memories well 26% of th anyway.

We Irish fought long and hard to dispel the idea that we are stupid.We shouldn’t have bothered!!!

“Shure didn’t FF get me brother the job in the Garda and me all seeing granny the blind pension. Ah yes a few of them made a few million on the sly and yeah they destroyed the economy but De Valera was a good Catholic !
Shure everybody deserves a second chance so I’ll vote for them.”
Any half sane person would get to f..k out of this country if that gang of criminals bet anywhere near the reins of power again.

We are being governed by Europe now, financially at least. They tell us what to do and we have to comply. I would be sickened if the Irish people forgot who got us into this mess.

Shower of bastards. Simple as

Given the astounding level of ignorance I read through the comment’s section on this website every day, it does not surprise me to see their resurgence in the poll. Shur dey fixed da road afterall ! We deserve them.

if people vote them in goverment again after screwing the country over the 11 years of power and especially on the night of the bank crisis. well your idiots. ff should disband as an apology for what they have done, both brian cowen and charlie mc creavey should thrown in jail. yeah ppl blame fg atm but ff put this country on its knees, at least remember that next time voting. personally i’m goin to spoil my vote as there is no one that deserves it atm.

As was said in the main article last night, there is a major health warning for this poll. 34% undecided.
If these are included, it would leave FF on 19.4%, FG on 18.6%, SF on 13.4% and Lab on 7.5%. The scattering of Independents would be on 14.9%.
The undecideds obviously come from the 2 Government parties. As the results above aren’t that much different for the opposition parties, apart from a 3-4% increase for SF, since the 2011 GE.
So the question is, where will former FG and Labours soft support go at an election?
Answer that question and you can do my lottery ticket tonight.

OMG! Are people a load of ignorant goldfish with no memory at all? That shower should be in jails awaiting trial for economic treason, not topping polls.
If they get back in, you all deserve it!

People’s memories are very short. A party filled with corruption and lies that ran the country into the ground…. Wait a sec… I can’t remember what party I’m on about…

Every country gets the King it deserves!

FF has proved itself repeatedly to be unfit for government ….. Its endemic corruption has very nearly destroyed the countrys soul …..Ireland deserves better.

Depends on when an election is. Have one tomorrow & I think Sinn Fein could have strong support. In a few more years unfortunately yes FF will definitely be back in power. One thing we know for definite is that history is bound to repeat itself.

if ff get back in to power ireland well be a third world country with in 6 months god help us

Until every Fianna Fáil ex-minister or TD associated with the Bertie and Biffo administrations has left the party I would never even consider voting for them.

Here’s to a new political party come the next election…

What is the difference between FF and FG?….they are the same.

Does venting our frustrations and anger at politicians give us as a society a mechanism to avoid the real question? For ten years or so this country was riding on the crest of a wave and collectively nobody was shouting “stop this madness”. It runs a lot deeper than just politics. The politicians were reflecting a lot of what society wanted and in the end the country got severely wounded.

If they do, I’m leaving.
It make it real clear to me that things will never change in Ireland.
Austerity and emigration is the only thing we are guaranteed under either FF or FG.

It probably doesn’t matter anywaY they will be told what to do by there bosses in the e u . end of story.

Irish turkeys say the would prefer to vote for Christmas according to poll.

Yes because history will repeat itself, short memories, in brief FF ruin the economy, Fg Labour step in as part of rainbow goverment and make really unpopular decisions to balance the books.people are so disgusted that they re-elect FF who repeat our political history

Has nobody ever heard of Direct Democracy Ireland ?
You can vote for them if you can’t stand the others .

Of course they will, contrary unfortunetly to the comments on the thread. There are a mainstream of muppets that will swing from one bunch of tw@ts to the other every 5 years. The funny thing is a lot of these people aren’t as badly affected by the actions of the right wing governments as the people who don’t vote. There needs to be a concerted effort by the lower/working classes to get out and vote next time.

Wouldn’t be surprised by a FF and SF coalition next election, not that it will make FA of a difference. We need some new parties.

directdemocracy.ie

No chance. It doesn’t matter who is in power. The task to restore the country to any sort of normality is monumental. I really don’t think the average citizen realises the damage that has been done by successive governments. The figures don’t lie. When one looks closely and ignores the propaganda and spin the picture is grey at best, but probably closer to black. Just to get our % of debt to GDP to 60 from 120 over these next years is probably not achievable. But hey! Whoever is in power can try, but the rest of us are going to see our lifestyles eroded even more. Sad Sad state of affairs.

No unless we’re complete morons in this country.

No they will NEVER see power again. Crooks

@Mike Clinton – yes, a big difference. FF runs the country into recession, the coalitions then take painful measures to get us out again. This is the second time this has happened.

Fianna Fail, Fianna Gael, Labour, Sinn Fein Who cares? same bullshit different party! moan moan moan!

Over my dead body they will!

I’ll be voting for SF the only party who stand up against the banks who FF/FG/Lab just seem to lay down to. Plus SF are pro jobs and oppose austerity. FF/FG what’s the difference? one was pro treaty and one was anti treaty. What logic is there in voting in a party who are essentially the same except for small differences in their views on minor issues? Wake up people!

Swings and roubdabouts.

On the whole Fine Gael aren’t doing to badly. Yes, I think differently when I see the amount of tax I pay every month but the cold, hard truth is that we’re more financially stable as a country than when they took over.

Will vote Direct Democracy Ireland or Independent next time.

FF dug us into the hole we’re in through not having a clue what they were doing. The promisory note is proof of that! However, FG/LB were going to do the world when they got in before the election. They were going to tell the EU this, that and the other… Joan Burton attacked from the oposition day after day about the cuts to low income families, you’d have thought she was going to don a tea towel and do a mother Theresa then and there in the chamber at times. And what happend, they got elected. Enda Kenny etc showed they had all the backbone of a slinky when it came to standing up for us against the Troik, IMF, ECB etc… and mother Joan did a Jeckyll & Hyde and threw the poor and vunerable to the wolves. None of them deserve to be in power. From now on I’m going independant. At least, if nothing else, they’ll be a thorn in the backside of whoever gets in. Whatever the powers that be want is usually good for them and bad for us.

Speaking as a member of FF (before someone else points it out thinking they’ve unearthed a massive secret!), I voted NO.
Generally speaking, FF is still in the midst of a long-term renewal & polls don’t change that fact…
Tbf, while some of the comments above are mean-spirited (& politically expedient) in their tone, they’re not wrong. FF’s recent poll success says more about the current Govt than anything else & every FF member I know would prefer if FF were voted back in on its own merits & not the incompetency of this Govt.

Where’s the “I hope not” option?

Is there a difference ??

If we want change,we have to do it ourselves.Instead of running down a new political service,at least check them out first.directdemocracy.ie Have a look at their mission statement,then decide,but ffs,dont write them off,without at least having a look.Will that be too much of an effort,for the change you all seek.?

The opinion poll will have been influenced by Reilly’s interference with the HSE over the primary care centres as well as Hogan and Howlin’s gombeenism with their local hospitals. Furthermore, everyone will have seen, for the first time, the effects of the budget on their pay packets and benefits.

This will have been forgotten by the time of the next poll. Fine Gael will be hoping for a positive response from the IBRC promissary note deal.

Longer term the Coalition will have a more serious problem in getting re-elected. Labour are toast. They have completely sold out every sector of their natural constituency. At best Fine Gael will never exceed 35% but that will be a very big ask after four years of tough budgets with no prospect of a dramatic all in unemployment.

So Fianna Fail/ Sinn Fein coalition anyone?

The Galway tent is making a return….not that it ever left

Lol

No

The Irish people are looking for someone to stand up to Europe and stand up for the people of this country. Sinn Fein sliding up the rear nicely.

As a young woman, I have committed to not leaving this country in spite of knowing I will probably not be able to afford to have children for a very long time. I justify this decision by telling myself that the people of this country are not stupid enough to vote the same w**kers back into government again and that by the next election we will be open to new solutions and radical reform not in the interest of elite corporatism but in the interests of the people. If FF are elected again in 2016 it will break my heart, and I will probably end up reneging on my commitment to stay. Other solutions do exist, they just lack media attention. Direct Democracy Ireland is a promising example of one, a political service as opposed to a party whos model reflects that of the direct deocracy system in Switzerland. I would suggest that the journal.ie and other media outlets start focusing some attention on these solutions instead of pigeon-holing the electorate into thinking that they have rigid and limited choices when it comes to who to vote or poll for. Anyone who doesn’t act now to educate themselves on a better way forward for Ireland only has themselves to blame for their childrens enslavement.

directdemocracy.ie At least have a look.

directdemocracy.ie
It’s a new party check out the website.

…let’s try that again…take 2…swings & roundabouts…

A leopard may disguise itself well amongst its background but out in the open, it’s still a leopard and they NEVER change their spots!

26% of the country suffering from amnesia it seems

And the poll of one has it! So that’s a yes :-)

Bertie says go raibh mile mile maith agaibh for the pension

with healy rea as teashop, and mattie mcgrath as minister for finance, ming flanagan as minister for health god help the irish for he definitly made us mad.

I think they will. Fine Gael and and labour have had major pitfalls this year with their desire for abortion and refusing to apologise for the magdalene laundries they really are driving themselves to the political graveyard to RIP with the many other garbage politicians we have had in the past.

It doesn’t matter a jot whose in power! Not one iota!

I never thought i’d vote Sinn Fein. They are the only party standing up for the common person. The fact they aligned with an organisation that defended Nationalist & Catholic people when the Irish State wouldn’t, somehow makes them terrorists. I’m not trying to move this into a debate about a United Ireland etc etc… But Sinn Fein are the only party that have the island of Ireland interests at heart, which is why I’ll be switching my vote to them.

how much did fianna fail pay the journal for articles like this one? maybe if I pay you the same you might write an article on how my feet don’t smell as much as they used too.

All you have to do is look at the trend from the beginning of the Free State to realise that sadly FF will be voted in to power again despite the sh*t they have put this country through. That is why I voted yes. After that FG will be voted in, after that FF again and the cycle continues :(

Going by the latest polls and some of the comments above I would compare a large part of the Irish electorate to a domestically abused spouse who keeps returning to the abuser thinking they will stop their lying, cheating and slapping them about. The Irish electorate would need to liberate themselves from their a users FF, FG and Labour once and for all.

Why dont you check out DDI before putting them down.It has worked in Switzerland for years.Bailiffs unheard of there.No corruption,cronyism,because the people have the power,and not the politicians.Anyone standing for DDI will be fully accountable to his/her people who put them in office.

No wonder the 6,000 Canadian Visas were snapped up in a record 3 days! It’s a bleak future ahead on the Emerald Isle.

The only good thing that can be said about FF is that they are not SF.

not a hope of them returning to power, this latest poll take with a huge pinch of salt!!

I simply cannot believe this poll. Do the Irish people have no respect for themselves to think they would vote back In the shower who got us into this mess in the first place. Don’t get me wrong I am not jumping up and down about the current crowd and if there were another way of choosing the right people I would be all for it. But let’s face it Michael Martin is no doubt a very nice man and certainly doesn’t come across as as much of a sleeveen as his predecessors however a Political parties ethos does not change they will always be associated with big business and moneyed individuals and shame on the Irish voting public if they let themselves down at the next election by forgetting the legacy Fianna Fáil have left the next generations and how can we hold our heads up in front of them if we vote them in again. Shame on you who do.

@ Steve, can’t agree with you about Charlie McCreavy. I didn’t like him but he did tell us we were spending too much. We have him to thank for the SSIAs and if he had been let stay on as Finance minister, we might not be in this mess.

Mickey Martin will be the next Jack Lynch. Just remember that you.heard that first from this professor.

I’d consider voting Fianna Fail if they got rid of two of the biggest chancers in the party, Micheal Martin and Willie O’Dea.

Has this 26% forgotten already that FF voted with labour/FG to pass the IRBC bill. Cronies together to legalize their illegal promissory notes and
But Anglo firmly on our backs for next 40yrs.

At least give sf a chance to see what they are like!!

same shit ,different party.

TBH whoever gets in they will have their own interests central and not the peoples

I was gobsmacked when I heard this about FF, how can we be so utterly stupid. I really feel full of despair. There is truly something lacking in us, we are a dysfunctional people.

Can we somehow agree to get the S.N.P to run here?

The question is not do you think Fianna Fail will be in the next Government The question is do the Irish people have the intelligence to know exactly what their voting for.We are now finding out more than ever and not only through our drip feed media the level of incompetence and airbrushing that has gone on under countless FF governments they have created an electorate that does not think rationally but only gets carried along in a wave of public opinion orchestrated by the media who are still and always will be FF backers.I ask ye a simple question have FF ever really considered the fact they sold the country to the E.U for nothing the Soldiers of Destiny have surely decided our Countrys and its people and its unborn childrens Destiny and if they were’nt happy with the complete obliteration of Irelands self determination they are wholeheartedly assisting FG/L campaign of treason .Remember this the Irish people had no say on the TITANIC debt surmounted by these 3 parties in the late hours of the night TWICE.You decide but think and think twice and the picture becomes alot clearer put this scenaro into an everyday day problem we all face and you would not only tell them to leave you would beat them from your neighbourhood .

The poll released in the press can only have been skewed by abortion debacle also fumbled by Fine Gael and Labour. The lesser of two evils still remains an evil. The further away from party politics we get, the closer to democracy we get! And that’s not what we have at present! A direct democracy approach is the only future for this ailing country. They all had a go and all royally failed! Time for a fresh fair new approach without sgpin, deceit and double standards! Rant over!

Has to be a scam such a poll as people openly discuss that FG/LAB agenda is the same as the last FF government.People may say they vote FF but secretly will vote for SF and ULA plus Joe Higgins will gain in any election as more cuts in services and taxes bite a larger section of society.remember MM was a minister in various FF governments that destroyed the very fabric of the country and families by joining a IMF agenda to save FF above all other circumstances were a secondary including the states finances. Bank Guarantee deal like the latest deal by FG/LAB this week was a reincarnation of the underhand smoke filled back room deal and to protect FF. FF in power well its time to leave this kip and let the gombeens Irish live in splendid isolation of a lifestyle choice of their own making.

Aye, unfortunately there are a lot of sheep out there

Michael O’ Leary would sort it all out in a few weeks. Why can’t we get someone with brains like him to run the country.?

Merkel was right. We really are a nation of pixie heads

what difference anyway

Remember what Liam Cosgrave once said” The electorate are 90% thick” of coarse the will vote FF Back in at the first opportunity . The political party’s put up their own hacks and you have a choice(No choice) but to vote for Dumb or Dummer We have no say on who we vote for,that is why we need a new political system, this one is corrupt and is not working and it can’t be fixed. We need to educate the public on political matters,they are watching too much Coronation Street and reading too many Red Tops. You would be surprised at many people think that we got a good deal on the promissory note, not understanding that there should never have been a promissory note never mind a deal on same. they believe everything they read in papers and hear on the news, and don’t realize that both are part of the same corrupt system. I despair.

If they did you’d have to put democracy aside for the good of the country and ignore the idiot vote unfortunately.

I hope they will be back. People thinking FF are to blame for the global recession are a tad dim. FG have not yet bridged the country’s debt to revenue ratio which is now 120% even after this weeks “heroics”! CP agreement still in tact. Job in the public sector still a job for life. I think the new leaders of FF are a tad more honorable and caring for this nation.

They all lie and promise to get elected, we fall for it every time. We need the best and most successful business men to come in and actually see where they are going wrong

The boys are back in town! ‘Hon Fianna Fáil!

If this bunch is the best we have then we really are in worse trouble than I thought! I don’t see any new ideas. But Miceal Martin would make a better Taoiseach than Enda Kenny. I do believe it’s time for a new generation to rise up and sort out the problems we have inherited from this generation of morons.

I will vote Fianna Fáil in the next election. Because the Fine Gael elected representative here hasn’t been heard of since been elected.

It’s the old age pensioners, they are a greedy bunch and are bought by FF policies. We’ll have to wait another 10 years at least, when they’ve all gone to the pearly gates with the pockets on their shrouds!

I detest them but the reality is that they will most likely form the next government with FG as their partners…..That is why I voted yes to this poll…Sinn Fein wont enter government with either FF or FG unless they are the bigger party…Labour are in wipe out mode so that leaves FF/FG….no difference between them anyway…

I am at least heartened by the sheer number and the level of lucid argument being exhibited on this post!

Can’t see results of your poll michelle

Supporting the same political party time-after-time rewards the bad of that party. Voting for the best party at the time rewards the good work of that party.

Direct Democracy all the way !

Not a ……. Hope

So we’ve forgotten who put us in the s@@@ .. They don’t deserve a second chance.
In fact there is not a party out there who actually cares about the people of this country ,, to much rub my back bulls@@@ going on..
Easy pensions should be taken away and each politician should be paid on a performance rate on how well the country as a whole performs ???

The Unionists from Ulster would be more honest, As for SinnFein, ??? , If the Irish people want total isolation from the rest of the world and end up living in dire poverty with mass emigration ,Then, yes vote Sinn Fein.

The irony of it Fianna Fáil in when most of the crap is sorted, surely not!

The last thing we need is for any of the present parties to be in government. Looking back on the track record of all of them there’s a long, long history of graft, corruption, greed and self interest. The party political system is toxic and against the public interest. There has got to be a better way’ Fianna Fail may return to government on foot of the present shower being unpalatable in the extreme. But it won’t be in the public interest, far from it.

FG/FF Rightwing supremacy. #seemslegit

To hell with the lot of them. What we should do is bring in foreign politicians to sort out this mess. It seems to me that the only jobs done right are the jobs done by foreigners. That’s why we hate them so much.

They will not be getting my vote nor will FG Labour I will be looking for a strong independent

Not a chance !!! Who in their right mind would vote for the corrupt gangsters that put us here In The first place and also how could anyone vote for them knowing Mícheál Martin is the great TD that has done everything in his Power to ensure that Irish water is kept fluoridated !!!! Mass medicating a population with poison way to go Martin you cretin !!! FF/FG labour & the greens , traitors to the Irish people

Yes because we are suckers for punishment

The damage is done. The economy will limp along for a time but Ireland will eventually have leave the Euro. The burden of national debt is far too high to be sustainable and we need to position as a feeder point to ensure that the next generations move out of Ireland as soon as possible for their sake, not ours.

Yes, we will hear that the recession is ending, that the green shoots have been spotted and that inflation will take care of the national debt. That is all harmless. It will make us feel better and, if anger is not a policy, then perhaps delusion and illusion can be.

I assume that our long maturity are designated in euros. I asked the Department of Finance and the CBI but it is not their policy to reply except to FoI requests.

bless them feel sorry for the rest of us

it will be to late for a change of politicians,, our promissory note will not be one huge mortgage on Ireland,,, they should not be allowed to sign away our future for our kids,,, there was not one word when all these people made money off the bonds but as soon as they lose , the people of Ireland have to pay dearly,, they did not even try and negotiate these bonds,,, these are wealthy Germans with money to spare that took a chance,, sorry they should have to pay some also,,, if our government were strong enough and said no,,, then negotiate to half,, that’s what negotiation is,,, they are just selling us down the liffey,, i am the sorriest person for voting fg in and now realise why they have not been in power,, they only line the pockets of the rich,, their own pensions,, and a pay hike,, omg they are ruthless