Cardinal Brady: Poll suggests lack of support

Three-quarters of adults in the Irish Republic believe Cardinal Sean Brady should resign because of the sex abuse scandals, a survey suggests.

Ulster and Connacht were most supportive of the Irish Primate with 67% saying he should resign.

The strongest opposition to the cardinal was found in Dublin where 83% felt he should quit the post.

The Irish Times /Ipsos, MRBI survey, taken over two days last week, polled 1,000 voters over 18 on the issue.

Of all those surveyed, 76% said the cardinal should resign, 15% said he should not, while 9% had no opinion.

In the rest of Leinster 75% of respondents said the cardinal should quit while the figure for Munster was 74%.

The survey found that the most hostile voters were in the skilled working-class C2 category, where 84% wanted the cardinal to go

The most supportive were farmers, followed by the best-off AB voters.

Those in the 25 to 34 age group were strongest in the view that the cardinal should go while the over-65s were most supportive.

However, the older age group still favoured resignation by a margin of two to one.

Amongst members of political parties, Fianna Fáil voters were most supportive of the cardinal while Sinn Fein voters were the most hostile.

The poll was taken on Tuesday and Wednesday in face-to-face interviews at 100 sampling points in the Republic's 43 electorial constituencies.