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Martin McGuinness tops Northern Irish popularity poll

By
DONAL THORNTON
,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Monday, November 30, 2009, 1:26 PM
Updated Monday, November 30, 2009, 1:47 PM
Read more: Martin McGuinness


Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness found favor with both Catholics and Protestants
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness found favor with both Catholics and Protestants

Martin McGuinness is the most popular politician in Northern Ireland.

So says a poll that came out today. It marks the tenth anniversary of the first attempts to set up a power-sharing government, according to Ulster Television.

The poll surveyed a representative group of 500 people. It showed McGuinness with the support of 45 percent of Catholics and 11percent of Protestants, according to the Belfast Telegraph, which undertook the study along with a Belfast firm called Inform Communications.

The North’s First Minister, Peter Robinson, had nothing to match McGuinness' approval rating. Robinson had just 7 percent of support amongst Protestants, and a zero rating with Catholics. This leaves McGuinness 20 percentage points ahead of Robinson in public opinion.

“Even unionists responding to the survey had praise for McGuinness’s performance as Deputy First Minister,” the Belfast Telegraph noted in its analysis.

McGuinness has fared well in other surveys this fall too. A popular Northern Irish blog called Slugger O’Toole voted him Politician of the Year just last week.

Remarking on that victory Slugger O’Toole blogger Mick Fealty said: “Both the readers' panel and the judging panel felt that the moment when he stood with Hugh Orde and Peter Robinson on the steps of Stormont after the Masserene and Craigavon killings was the one moment in the year when the need for political courage was both required and fulfilled.”

The Belfast Telegraph poll also showed a general suspicion of politicians however. Three quarters of respondents said the expenses scandals, which swept UK and Northern Irish politics earlier this year, had damaged their perception of politicians.

Still, McGuinness’ current popularity may herald a new era for Stormont. Belfast Telegraph editor Mike Gilson said the findings of the poll suggest "we may be moving into a different phase of political life here in which politicians are judged as much on their performance in the here and now as on their history.”

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Martin McGuinness tops Northern Irish popularity poll | Irish News | IrishCentral


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Most recent comments - See all comments

Report abuse
Posted by plasticpaddy on Dec 07, 2009, 09:54 AM EST
I never said every republican is socialist, you're finding an argument where there doesn't need to be one. I would say they are nationalists, in the republic, not necessarily republican.
Report abuse
Posted by IrishAndProud on Dec 03, 2009, 05:20 PM EST
Yes, I've been to the north -- and yes, it's widely accepted that socialism is associated with the Irish republican movement -- but that does not mean that every Irish republican is automatically a socialist also, or that the republican populace in general just automatically accepts socialism. Just look at the republic of Eire: most Irish there (I dare say) are republicans, but it's not exactly a socialist state, of the variety that Sinn Fein seeks. I'm obviously not a big fan of unchecked, rampant materialism either (just look at the horrific damage to Ireland that the Celtic Tiger caused); I'm simply saying that Irish republicanism does not automatically equal a desire for socialism.
Report abuse
Posted by plasticpaddy on Dec 03, 2009, 09:57 AM EST
by being involved in the legitimate republican movement and having met members of toher movements. If you've ever been to the North this would be obvious to you (I don't mean that to sound nasty or in any way abrupt) its just something I've come to know about the Republican movement and something which in Ireland is widely accepted as the case.
Report abuse
Posted by IrishAndProud on Dec 02, 2009, 01:57 PM EST
Not necessarily. Exactly how many of the 'socialist republican' leadership were/are actually supported by popular vote of the republican populace? Not that many -- since a number of these groups are technically illegal anyway, and could therefore not hold open, free elections (unless they managed some sort of secret ballot; in which case how could one really know?)
Report abuse
Posted by plasticpaddy on Dec 02, 2009, 03:02 AM EST
I am saying that in reality the vast majority of Irish Republicans are socialist or at least consider themselves leftist. I am saying that your portrayal of republicanism is incorrect. Republicanism since the inception of the theory of socialism has been an almost entirely leftist construct in the Irish Republican political tradition. the British did not need to drive those of a social conscience to the IRA. Sinn Fein, O'Bradaighs Sinn Fein, the INLA are all socialists as are every single one of the dissident republican groups. Even the SDLP (nationalist, not republican) are left leaning. "...Not all Irish republicans (not by a long shot) just automatically embrace the idea of socialism. Far from it." Yes by a long shot, the vast majority are socialist, to argue against that is to ignore the political leaning of all of the major republican organisations and affiliations.
Report abuse
Posted by IrishAndProud on Dec 01, 2009, 09:20 PM EST
Plasticpaddy, I certainly hope you are not saying that A) only socialists can be true Irish republicans, and B) that there are no true Irish republicans who are conservative; there are plenty, on both sides of the Atlantic. And no, I'm not saying that Fianna Fail are the only republicans; the second word of their name indeed fits them (in the English-language sense). They have largely become like both major U.S. political parties -- weak and inept. What I said was that Irish republicans, at one point, did not automatically embrace socialism, even if their 'leadership' did -- and that it took British murder to literally drive them into the IRA's corner (and even then, many did not and still do not like the IRA). And to this day, certainly not all Irish republicans (not by a long shot) just automatically embrace the idea of socialism. Far from it.


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