Labour Ministers insist polls aren't everything after election wipeout predictions
Eamon Gilmore has dismissed speculation about his future as the leader of the Labour party, following two polls published this morning predicting an election wipeout.
The Tánaiste said he is not paying much attention to the polls, which predict his party will lose half its seats at Council level.
He appears to have abandoned hope of Phil Prendergast keeping her European seat in Ireland South - but says the party is still in with a fight for two seats.
"I think we know from experience that polls don't always predict elections," he said.
"I remember standing answering questions the weekend before the presidential election, and the outcome of the election was pretty different."
"What matters is what people decide on Friday … a very large number of people at this stage have still to make up their minds."
At the same time, the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, said Labour would not consider pulling out of Government no matter how poor the election result might be, while Joan Burton branded the promises of Independents and Sinn Féin as "fantasy" politics.
Pat Rabbitte also said he could "understand why people would be running out of patience - they've endured a very long recession."
"But we are on the road to recovery," he said. "There are other parties out there, who have a soundbite for everything, but they don't have a plan for anything."
