ABSTRACT
In 2001, eight opinion polls were published in national newspapers (Independent Newspapers Ltd and The Irish Times). 1 Three were under-taken by MRBI for The Irish Times. All of the MRBI polls were undertaken in the first six months of the year. The remaining five surveys were taken by IMS for Independent Newspapers. The taking of opinion polls was strongly influenced in the first half of 2001 by the ‘foot and mouth’ crisis. Only one IMS poll was undertaken during the crisis on 8 March, in urban areas. The results of this survey tend to attenuate responses that are known to have a rural basis, e.g. support for Fine Gael. The results for the last IMS survey of the year were weighted, which is a little unusual. There seem to have been problems with the sample drawn with an under-representation of some sub groups (25–34 years, 65 + years, farmers, people living in Connaught/Ulster and urban areas) and over-representation of others (35–49 years and those living in rural areas). In this report, a brief examination will be made of the state of affairs in 2001 with regard to politics and the economy. Then there will be an overview of the key issues that attracted opinion poll questions and, finally, there will be a look at how opinions were shaping up with the countdown to the 2002 general election.
