Tanaiste Joan Burton is reportedly staring into the political abyss following a poll which shows she has only an outside chance of retaining her seat in this month's general election.
An exclusive poll of the Dublin West constituency by research consultancy Millward Browne has revealed the Tanaiste and Labour Party leader is trailing behind in fifth place - on just 10 per cent of preference votes.
The poll of 520 voters carried out between February 5-8, has sent shock waves through the party after it showed Ms Burton's vote has more than halved compared with her 2011 performance.
Her cabinet colleague, Health Minister Leo Varadkar, is set to top the poll and could even take his place in the new Dail after the first count, according to a report in the Irish Independent newspaper.
In its analysis the paper suggested Sinn Fein was also set for a "major breakthrough" with Paul Donnelly matching the health minister's 20 per cent.
However, some 14 per cent of voters in the constituency say they have yet to make up their mind which means the Tanaiste will be locked in a four-way battle for the final two seats in the constituency.
Other runners include Fianna Fail newcomer Jack Chambers, who on 17 per cent, is within "touching distance" of winning back the seat once held by the late Brian Lenihan and Ruth Coppinger of AAA-PBP who won the Dublin West by-election in 2014 and is now in fourth place with 15 per cent of first preference votes.
Independent Alliance councillor David McGuinness, who left Fianna Fáil after failing to get a nomination, is on nine per cent, while Mr Varadkar's running mate, Senator Catherine Noone, sits on just two per cent according to the poll.
Based on the figures, it is predicted Ms Burton will rely heavily on transfers from Mr Varadkar if is she is to have any chance of getting elected, although she is considered more "transfer-friendly" than Ms Coppinger.
A massive 43 per cent of Fine Gael voters in the constituency say they will give their second preference to the Labour Party while, overall, one-in-seven voters indicated they would be willing to give Ms Burton their second preference compared with one-in-eight who would opt for the anti austerity candidate.
Ms Burton previously lost her seat in 1997 but has been a solid performer in every election since. In recent days she said she was "very confident" of winning back her seat.
The Independent suggested the drop in her support could partly be explained by the fact that two out of three voters in Dublin West are dissatisfied with the current government's performance.
