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(Seo alt ónár bhfoireann Gaeltachta. Is féidir an bunleagan as Gaeilge a léamh anseo)
FINE GAEL CANDIDATE Senator Seán Kyne has a narrow lead over Noel Thomas of Independent Ireland in the race to fill the vacancy left by Catherine Connolly’s election as President, according to a new opinion poll from TG4 and the Irish Times published tonight.
Kyne, a former TD and Government Chief Whip, is out in front with 17% of the choices made by 530 voters in the poll conducted by IPSOS/B&A between last Friday and Tuesday of this week. The margin of error was plus/minus 4%.
Thomas, who finished in sixth place at the general election when in the five-seater, is on 16%, while Labour candidate Helen Ogbu, on 12%, is performing best among left-wing candidates.
Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich, a native Irish speaker from Leitir Móir running for the Social Democrats, is on 9%, Cillian Keane (Fianna Fáil) on 8%, Mike Cubbard (Independent) and Mark Lohan (Sinn Féin) on 7%, and Niall Murphy of the Green Party and Thomas Welby (Independent) on 6%.
Orla Nugent, the Aontú candidate, is on 4% according to the survey, and Sheila Garrity — the candidate chosen by Catherine Connolly’s supporters to carry her independent banner — is on 3%. Denman Rooke, standing for People Before Profit, is on 2%.
As the distribution of transfers is likely to play a crucial role in deciding the destination of the seat, the poll asked voters who they would give their second preference to, with Kyne receiving 15% of those — well ahead of Thomas on 7% but just one percentage point ahead of Welby, who received 14% of second preference votes.
Thirty-five per cent of respondents said that candidates’ stance on the recent fuel protests would have a major influence on how they cast their vote. Thirty-two percent said a candidate’s position on that issue would have some influence on their vote, while a further 32% said a candidate’s stance would have no influence whatsoever on their choice.
Despite the fact that Galway West contains Connemara — the largest Gaeltacht community in the country — 67% of respondents said that a candidate’s ability in Irish would make no difference to their choice in the polling booth. Thirty-two percent said they would be more likely to give their vote to an Irish-speaking candidate.
The results of the TG4 and Irish Times opinion poll for Dublin Central will be published this coming Thursday, 14 May.
The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
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