New Poll: 99% of people believe Irish polls are worthless.

Last week the National TV3/Millward Brown Poll dramatically announced figures that showed Labour winning the next Irish general election, if it were held the next day, while the Greens would be wiped out, and Sinn Féin would be left with one TD. A few days later the REDC poll showed Fine Gael winning the election and had Sinn Féin on 10%, which meant a substantial increase of our representation in Leinster house. Who was telling the truth?

The truth is that the people conducting these polls are engaged in an act very similar to using a wood chisel and coconut milk to preform keyhole brain surgery. It might seem to some people to be a science, but any sane person knows its just stupid, a little dangerous and will end up giving you the mother of all headaches.



Polls are down this month!



No one knows what will happen in the next election. We all have ideas, and most people think Fianna Fail will take a hiding. But we thought that in 2007 and they pulled through by the skin of their teeth and the widespread publicising of their lies. There are people out there who vote Fianna Fail because their parents vote FF, and their parents before them. Those people will vote Fianna Fail in the next election, and even if Cowen closes every hospital in the country and appoints Mr Bean as the new head of the NTMA, they will continue to vote Fianna Fail.

Most of these polls are being over kind to Labour, and if anything will only hurt the potential of Gilmore's crew. Everyone knows that outside Dublin, Labours figures are optimistic to say the least. The only way they can show what they can do is to go through the next election. These polls may actually damage labour chances by making them such early favourites. Dick Springs labour didn't have to face as much pre election campaign exposure as the current party before the Spring Tide, so it is impossible to guess labours actual true strength at the moment. These polls are unfairly making opposition parties like labour the focus of media scrutiny while all the medias attention should be glued to the people who have bankrupted the country and still hold their positions in government.

The polls have continually targeted Enda Kenny to such an extent that members of his own party moved against him in a coup some months ago. It failed because Kenny had the support of the majority of his party. Who's to say that the polls are right about his popularity (or lack of it) with the general public?

The Irish media has a fascination with these polls. Last week they were fighting to get a piece of a gleeful Gilmore in the wake of the TV3/Millward Brown poll. The soundbites all predicted a new Spring Tide. A Gilmore Tsunami. Then along came the REDC poll and blew that out of the water. Or did it?

Maybe the Irish media should spend less time analysing polls and more time calling for an immediate general election, or at the very least, call for the three outstanding by-elections to be held.

90% of people believe they won't bother.