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Updated 1.23pm
NEARLY HALF OF people in Ireland would prefer a general election in early 2016, according to a new poll.
Less than 30% of people favour an election before the end of this year while a fifth say it doesn’t matter when the election is held, according to a Claire Byrne Live/Amárach Research poll for TheJournal.ie
The poll of more than 1,000 people was carried out earlier this week and will provide interesting guidance for Taoiseach Enda Kenny as he considers whether to call an early election.
Publicly, Kenny, who has sole responsibility when it comes to calling an election, has indicated several times that it will take place in early 2016. But there has been ongoing speculation that an early snap election is in the offing.
Speaking today, Health Minister Leo Varadkar said the election won’t be in six weeks’ time and said he was “fairly certain” it will take place next year.
“That’s the plan that the government would complete it’s term,” the Fine Gael TD told reporters at his party’s think-in in Limerick.
The Amárach poll asked participants: Do you think there should be a General Election before the end of 2015 or early in 2016?
It found that:
Most political observers believe that if there is to be a general election before the end of the year it will be called right after the Budget in the middle of October and be held in November.
The government would hope to capitalise on a feel-good factor among the voters after a generous Budget announcement that is likely to include tax cuts and spending increases of up to €1.5 billion.
However, Tánaiste and Labour leader Joan Burton has expressed a clear view that her preference would be for an election in 2016, due primarily to her party’s poor showing in current opinion polls.
If Kenny were to go to the country before the end of the year it would be against the wishes of Fine Gael’s coalition partners.
Support for an election in early 2016 is stronger than support for one before the end of this year among men and women, of all ages, in all social classes, and in all regions.
Broken down by age group the strongest support for a 2016 election is among those 55 and over (53%) while 35% of those between 35 and 44 favour an election before the end of the year.
The poll was conducted today by Amárach Research. The survey panel comprises more than 1,000 adults who all own a smartphone. More details here.
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The general of the presidential guard was going to lose his job and was not happy about it. Calling this high treason is ironic when he is the one who did a coup against a democratically elected president and government. The coup is high treason.
@ForrestG45: Yes, it is, in this case, and in every other case. But at some point (I’m not talking about this one), if someone is committing treason or doing something so bad, like declaring war when the people don’t want it, or malnutrition its people, kind of like Kim Jong Un, then only by committing treason you can depose a tyrant. The people in power write the laws and defines treason.
This should be done here with the current cabinet.
Am sure some democracy bombs will sort them out. Just like Libya.
Under the Bazoum ‘democracy’ the natural resources were taken by France under the guns of the French and US military. Bazoum was handsomely rewarded for this treachory while the people of (name of country censored) go hungry. This coup was carried out without a single death because it had he support of the people of (name of country censored).
@Fearg: (name of country censored)? NIGER is the name of the country it’s clearly not sensored so why claim it is?.
@Fearg: I think you will find that resources were bought with hard currency rather that ‘taken’ (stolen) as you suggest
@donal O’brien: They were not bought they were taken. French companies own the mines. Niger only gets 14% of the value of what France takes. 1 in every 3 houses in France is powered by uranium from Niger while 90% of Niger’s population don’t even have electricity.
The people of Niger are 100% correct to take back the resources from any western nation that claims them and charge a fair price for them. Will the military junta do that remains to be seen but that’s nothing to do with us
@Roy Dowling: incorrect. Less than 10% of Niger’s uranium is used in French nuclear plants. France and the EU have diversified their supply in the last while to counter such risks, with the likes of Kazakhstan, Canada and soon Uzbekistan.
@ForrestG45: sorry meant less than 10% of uranium used in French nuclear plants is coming from Niger.
Any chance of a report on the voter fraud operation in Michigan that was operating during the 2020 election? A paid election worker has been indicted after she registered approx 10,000 dubious voters. That was in one Michigan county. She was also operating in several other Michigan counties.
Plus she was part of a larger team of paid election operatives.
@Monetpenny: She was operating in several different counties at once? Right. Is she there with you now?
@F Fitzgerald. Yes she was. She didn’t perform the miracle of bi-location but you do understand people can operate on different counties at the same time? I have a friend who is a business rep for Kerry, Limerick & Clare. That is possible. It doesn’t mean he is in the same county at the same time nor does his employer expect him to be in the three counties at the same time.
Perhaps if the Journal did a report on it you might understsnd.
have your say