Civil war politics still hold sway according the Irish Farmers Journal/RED C opinion poll of Ireland’s farmers. While we still do not know for certain when An Taoiseach Enda Kenny will call a general election, it is clear that the main political parties are in election mode. If an election was called today, 34% of farmers would give their first preference to Fine Gael and 19% would give their number ones to Fianna Fáil.

Sinn Féin is the next most popular party with farmers on 4%, although the Independents received 12% of farmers’ first preference votes, making that group the third largest political block in the country. There was a poor showing for the junior party in the coalition Government, the traditionally urban-focused Labour Party. Just 1% of respondents indicated that they would give the party their first preference. There were some positives for new party Renua, with farmers giving it a foothold of 1%.

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Undecided on 22%

Undecided and the don’t knows take up a large portion at 22%. When these are removed, the support for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil grows to 48% and 26% respectively. Labour stays at 1%, Sinn Féin support grows from 4% to 6%, Renua doubles to 2%, the Green Party remains unchanged on 1% while the Independents jump 4% to 16%.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will take solace in the fact that they remain the two biggest parties among the large farming voter bloc. However, the Fianna Fáil recovery has not extended to farmers. In 2011 and prior to the last General Election, the Irish Farmers Journal carried out an opinion poll with RED C. The poll showed support for Fine Gael at 60%, excluding undecided voters, and Fianna Fáil was at 19%. Compared with 2011, Fine Gael has dropped slightly while Fianna Fáil remains stagnant.

Strong support for Coveney

Support for the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney among farmers remains strong too, with 61% of those surveyed either very satisfied or quite satisfied with his performance.

The Irish Farmers Journal/RED C poll is the most comprehensive of its kind, with 1,000 farmers from all different sectors and land types surveyed. The poll was carried out between 16 and 21 September and has a margin of error +/- 3%.