J.6624-Sunday-Times-June-2015-Report

Sunday Times/Behaviour & Attitudes Opinion Poll SeriesBackgroundFieldwork for today’s poll was conducted over the period 5 th – 15 th of June last. As such,surveying took place just one month after our last poll, the results of which indicated aconsolidation of the Government party’s uplift in support which had originally registered inMarch of this year.The reasonably healthy support levels for both Fine Gael and Labour in May were attributedto a run of good news in the run-up to the survey, including statements by Michael Noonanabout likely tax reductions in the end of year budget, perhaps even stretching to a cut in theUniversal Social Charge.Since then, the socio-political landscape has been a little rockier, with the Governmentaccused in some quarters of deferring any potential fall-out from the Site Serve controversyuntil after the election by way of the establishment of a formal enquiry.There have also been rumblings of industrial unrest in recent weeks with, for example,thousands of Dunnes Stores workers and supporters protesting at Merrion Square lastSaturday, 6 th June in support of improved pay and working conditions.Crucially, a series of consumer confidence surveys and associated economic reports pointtowards a clear and persistent divide between urban and rural Ireland in relation to theeconomic recovery, with rural communities in particular still suffering from the consequencesof the recession.15