Housing and cost of living emerge as biggest issues in LongfordLive.ie polls

Ahead of this Friday's General Election, reporters and photographers from the Longford Leader have been out and about bringing you the latest from the campaign trail.
In addition to gauging people’s views in local communities, towns and villages, we have also conducted a number of online polls - on www.longfordlive.ie - in which we asked potential voters to answer a number of simple questions.

Early on in the campaign, we asked what the most important issue is for voters in County Longford.
Of the choices offered, housing was the issue of most concern by those who responded and took part in the poll, followed closely by health and immigration.

As the General Election campaign progressed, the state of the economy came to the fore nationally so we asked people what they think has impacted their standard of living the most?
Half of those who voted cited inflation and the increased cost of living as the single thing which has impacted their standard of living the most with the increase in house prices and monthly rents coming in second.

When it comes to the campaign itself, a third of those polled stated the first Leaders’ Debate on RTÉ, featuring representatives from ten political parties and groups, will not have any influence on how they vote on Friday while another third indicated the debate will be a factor in their decision. Of those who responded to the poll, 17% said they did not watch the debate, which was moderated by Katie Hannon.

The final poll, which was conducted seven days before polling day, asked people which political party they were likely to vote for on November 29.
People Before Profit–Solidarity was the clear winner, followed by Fine Gael and Sinn Fein with Fianna Fail and Independent Ireland completing the top five.

On Friday, voters in Longford will be asked to elect five TDs to the 34th Dail to represent the Longford Westmeatch constituency, which has an overall population of almost 143,000
Voting takes place - at polling stations across both counties - between 7am and 10pm.
The opening of ballot boxes commences at the Count John McCormack Hall in TUS Athlone on Saturday morning where sorting of votes will commence and tally people will also swing into the action.
Traditionally, Longford Westmeath counts have been marathon affairs and you can keep up to date with all that is happening over the weekend on www.longfordlive.ie #longfordwestmeathelection2024.

Read next: https://www.longfordleader.ie/news/general-election/1665108/gerry-hopes-to-be-a-strong-independent-voice-for-longford.html