Richard Bruton, the deputy leader and financial spokesman of the opposition party, Fine Gael, has been sacked by party leader, Enda Kenny.

Bruton was sacked following his proposal of a motion of no confidence in the party leader.

Last week an opinion poll showed that the Labour Party had overtaken the opposition party in popularity. Kenny was to face Bruton’s challenge on Tuesday morning.

Those supporting Kenny insist that he would have had the numbers to defeat Bruton’s challenge.

Following two independent reports which suggested that governmental policies contributed to the country’s economic problems Kenny had planned to put down a motion of no confidence in the Fianna Fail – Green Party coalition government.