RESULTS OF TNS mrbi POLL IN DONEGAL SOUTH WEST CONSTITUENCY
About this poll
TNS mrbi was commissioned by RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta to conduct a poll in the Donegal South West constituency.
This poll was conducted on the following basis: an in-home face-to-face survey of 500 respondents representative of the Donegal South West Constituency electorate, at 50 different sampling points. The sample was stratified by three key electoral divisions, and further controlled by age and sex.
The fieldwork was conducted 2nd -18th April, 2007. In all respects, the survey was conducted within the professional standards and ethical codes of AIMRO, The Marketing Society, and of ESOMAR (European Society).
About Donegal South West
Donegal South West is a three seat constituency.
Since the 2002 General Election, the boundary of Donegal South West has been amended: under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2005, four DEDs in the Stranorlar area have been transferred from Donegal North-East to Donegal South-West. Current Teachtaí Dála include Mary Coughlan (FF), Pat the Cope Gallagher (FF) and Dinny McGinley (FG).
In addition, other candidates expected to run include; John Doherty (Ind), Pearse Doherty (SF), Sean Ó Maolchallan (GP) and Seamus Rodgers (Lab).
The results
On the basis of this opinion poll, Mary Coughlan (FF) would be comfortably elected on the first count, with her transfers aiding party colleague Pat The Cope Gallagher (FF) to secure the second seat.
The third seat would be an extremely close contest between Pearse Doherty (SF) and sitting TD Dinny McGinley (FG). The run-up to the elections in this constituency will be crucial.
FIRST & SECOND PREFERENCE VOTES – Click here
Election Issues
The single issue of greatest importance to the electorate of Donegal South West is that of Healthcare/Hospitals with 46% of constituents spontaneously expressing their concern about this issue.
30% are concerned about roads, with 17% listing ‘road safety/road deaths’ in particular. Unemployment is also of concern amongst 29% of the population.
Specific Question: Review of Gaeltacht Boundaries
A specific question was asked in the poll regarding the review being conducted by the Government of how Gaeltacht boundaries are defined. The wording was as follows:
The Government is conducting a review of how Gaeltacht boundaries are defined. If such a review were to result in a smaller Gaeltacht in Donegal South West, would you:
• View this change positively?
• View this change negatively?
• No relevance to me
• Don’t know/no opinion?
Results
Of the 55% of the Donegal South West constituency who hold an opinion regarding the current review of Gaeltacht boundaries over three quarters (or 42% of the whole electorate) would view a decrease in size of the official Gaeltacht in the Donegal South West constituency as negative and just under a quarter (or 13% of the whole electorate) would view it positively.
• View this change positively? 13%
• View this change negatively? 42%
• No relevance to me 33%
• Don’t know/no opinion? 12%