LABOUR TDs have moved to defend Tanaiste eamon Gilmore's leadership over the party's plummeting popularity.
Questions were raised about Mr Gilmore's future as leader after an opinion poll yesterday found that Labour was rated at just six per cent, the lowest it has been since the 1980s.
The party trailed by 20 per cent behind its coalition partners Fine Gael and 16 per cent behind Fianna Fail while Sinn Fein's popularity had soared to 23 per cent.
Karen O'Connell, an adviser to social protection minister Joan Burton, appeared to fuel speculation when she described yesterday as "Black Tuesday'' in a tweet, but later insisted she was referring to the weather.
Public expenditure minister Brendan howlin admitted the result was not good but insisted that he had not expected the party's support to begin to increase until the economic recovery started "putting money back in people's pockets".
Carlow Kilkenny deputy Anne Phelan pointed out that the government was only half way through its term in power, saying it was not time to change the leader. however, she did describe yesterday's result as a "bit of a wake-up call".
Junior minister Joe Costello said voters had "short memories" and that Labour was suffering because of its role in the government's costcutting efforts because "nobody likes making sacrifices".