Quinn not concerned with Labour's poor poll performance
Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has said that he is not worried about the future of the Labour Party in Government despite its poor peformance in an opinion poll published today.
The party has dropped six points in the IPSOS/MRBI poll for the Irish Times, with the popularity of leader Eamon Gilmore plunging by 14 points.
Almost three out of four people questioned for the poll said they were dissatisfied with the Fine Gael/Labour coalition.
But Minister Quinn told Waterford's Beat 102-103 radio that the party is still solid.
"The people of Ireland not only voted, historically, for a new government - but they thought that in voting for a new government they were getting a new economy," he said.
"That hasn't been the case.
"Now we are fixing the economy, but it is painful and there is (sic) more tough times ahead," he said.
"Some of the reforms that we are undertaking in social welfare, in education and in the economy itself, are the foundations for a new economy.
"But when you are putting in foundations on a building site it's a very messy, ugly-looking picture."
Mr Gilmore has also dismissed the poll, saying that with no election looming, the results are irrelevant.
"We have to carry on with our (the Government's) job," he said.
"This is a time for courage… the courage to stick with the task that we have been given to do, which is to bring this country to economic recovery."
