Two new opinion polls in Ireland have revealed that Fianna Fail has stabilized their core vote after changing their leader.

Former Foreign Minister Michael Martin took over from current Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who was deeply unpopular.

Both polls by Red C for the Sunday Business Post and Millward Brown Landsdowne for the Sunday Independent show them at 16 percent.

In the last election, they polled 44 percent.

The polls show that Fine Gael remain the most popular party with Fine Gale at 33 percent in both polls and Labor at 21 and 24 percent respectively.

Sinn Fein is at 13 percent and 10 percent respectively.

The polls clearly show a huge vote for independents, at around 15 percent.

The conventional wisdom now is that Fine Gael and Labor will definitely form the next coalition government and will have a handsome majority to do so.

New Fianna Fail leader Michael Martin will be happy to have stabilized the party’s support but will be hoping to edge up to the 20 percent mark before the election, which is expected February 25th.