Campus Poll Reveals Higgins as Firm Favourite

Photo Courtesy of The Labour Party, Flikr

A RECENT poll taken on the NUI Galway campus has revealed a striking differentiation from national polls, in terms of student attitudes in relation to the upcoming Presidential election and their attitudes towards it and certain candidates.
The poll, taken over two days a week apart, has shown that former NUI Galway graduate and lecturer Michael D. Higgins is the firm favourite among students, with 22 of the 50 people (44pc) polled saying they would vote for the 70-year-old Labour Party candidate. Although the Galway connection cannot be overlooked as an influencing factor, many were also impressed by Higgins’ clean campaign in relation to other candidates:
“I like him”, said David Seale (18) from Portlaoise. “He’s not involved in dirty tactics."
Others felt that he was the best face for the Presidency because of his cultural background:
“I like his cultural background”, said  Donna (29) from Clare. “He is very involved in Irish literature and it’s important to keep that history alive.”
Culture was also a leading factor among David Norris’ base. Higgins, though, is seemingly untouchable in the position of frontrunner, and barring a massive upset will emerge as the winner among NUI Galway students after the dust settles on October 27th. There was a massive drop in numbers between him and second-place Independent candidate Sean Gallagher who had the confirmed number one vote of 9 people (18pc), and Senator David Norris in third place with 4 people (8pc).
In fourth place was Martin McGuinness, with 2 people (4pc) stating they would vote for the former Provisional IRA leader, and a relatively high 6 people (12pc) were undecided. A surprising statistic that materialised was that 7 people (14pc) of those polled confessed that they had no intentions of voting, either because of apathy or not being registered to vote in Galway.
“I don’t know anything about it, I don’t really care about it”, said Orla Walsh (19) from Galway.
“None of them are inspiring”, said Daniel Hickey (20).
“I can’t [vote]”, said Barbara from Mayo. “They don’t make it convenient. Otherwise I would.”
The other blatant fact, hard to ignore, was that none of the 50 people polled mentioned Gay Mitchell, Dana, or Mary Davis, who are also the bottom three contenders on the national polls.

photo by Chartered Accountants Ireland, Flikr

  Although the poll is a reverse image of national polls in that Higgins maintains a healthy lead over Gallagher, there was a mirroring of a national trend in a spike in support for Gallagher on day two of the polling, which took place after the Primetime debate. 15pc of people were committed to Gallagher on the first day, and this had risen to 25pc on day two. A further 13pc on day two said they would “consider” Gallagher, compared to 4% who said the same on day one.
“He knows his business, he knows how to control things...His organisational skills are immense...He knows how to keep a tight ship”, said Erin Kelly (19) of the Cavan Independent candidate.
Maedbh Callan and Rosa Shine, both 19, tied their allegiances to Gallagher because he “makes the most sense”.
Whatever the varied reasons that will pull voters to the polls or keep them at home on Thursday 27, there seems to be a general consensus about what the position means:”No power”, “it makes no difference”, and “just a figurehead” were common recurring phrases among those asked.