Election 2016 POLL:  Who will create Jobs in Ireland?

By Mark Kane

February 25th 2016

With less than 24 hours until Irish people head to the voting booths and choose their next government, here at Job Coconut we have been focusing on how voters are judging the political parties in relation to their ability to aid job creation in Ireland. We carried out two sample polls on Twitter during the second & third televised leaders debates.

We asked which party was thought to be best equipped in creating jobs if elected?

After the second live debate on February 15th, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams dominated the poll with 74% of the vote. 

Interestingly the current government made up of Fine Gael and Labour - who boast about job creation as one of their big achievements - only received 13% and 3% respectively.

On Tuesday the 23rd of February, the third and final debate took place and the same question was asked during the live debate and the results changed considerably.

These results show Fianna Fail gaining momentum from the second debate into the third at 37%. The Taoiseach’s performance, which by many experts was classed as poor, didn’t help the current government’s appearance, and results show voters are not convinced that the current government is the way forward.

Sinn Fein came second in this poll with 32%, which is not a surprise based on Gerry Adams’ performance; however his inaccuracy with figures did not go unnoticed by many, and at this late stage may have been his downfall.

During the third and final debate we also asked voters some follow up questions about the leaders themselves. We asked who they thought performed the best, and the results follow a similar trend to our main poll.

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From these polls and from speaking with voters over the last 3 weeks it’s clear the current Fine Gael and Labour government will find it impossible to return in its current form. Fianna Fail have gained ground, but we find it hard to see them becoming the majority.

We predict a Fine Gael to claim the most votes, but not enough to get the majority. The real question is who will they go into power with. This will shape how the next 5 years will go for Ireland. The good news for Ireland is that job creation will continue to grow. Fine Gael have improved matters but according to our polls Fianna Fail may have better ideas to bring to the table.

The polls open Friday 26th at 7am until 10pm. Exit polls start coming early Saturday morning.