THE GOVERNMENT MAY have a battle ahead in its campaign for the abolition of the Seanad ahead of the October referendum with a new opinion poll showing a fall in support for the idea.

The Sunday Independent/Millward Brown poll, published today, reveals a 6 per cent drop in support for the abolition of the Seanad. Just 37 per cent said they would like to see it abolished while 33 per cent said they would prefer if it was reformed.

Some 23 per cent of respondents said they didn’t know what they wanted to happen to the Seanad. The government now has just over a month to convince voters that abolition is the best course of action.

Despite the disappointing results on the Seanad, Fine Gael are still on top, according to the poll, with 18 per cent saying they would give the leading government party their first preference vote if there was an election tomorrow. However Fianna Fáil are hot on their tails with 17 per cent while Labour would get just 5 per cent of first preference votes.

A whopping 37 per cent of people don’t know how they would vote if a general election were to be called.

Support for Sinn Féin remains steady though independents took a fall in this poll.

Voters are dissatisfied with party leaders across the board, according to the results. Michael Martin is the most popular leader, with 29 per cent satisfaction while those surveyed said they were most dissatisfied with Labour’s Eamon Gilmore.

This poll was conducted among a sample of 985 adults across the country and was carried out between 3 and 12 August.

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Read: ‘Half of Labour’s TDs and senators’ are against abolition of the Seanad>

Read: Fianna Fáil tie with Fine Gael in latest opinion poll>