Dublin  - The Irish government received a boost in an opinion poll published Friday that showed voter satisfaction with its performance rising 13 points from the last poll in January to 48 per cent.

Personal support for the new prime minister, Brian Cowen, stood at 52 per cent in the TNS mrbi poll conducted Monday and Tuesday, less than a week after Cowen took over from Bertie Ahern, who stood down after nearly 11 years in office amid questions about his personal finances.

The poll in The Irish Times showed support for Cowen's ruling Fianna Fail party rising eight percentage points to 42 per cent, while its coalition partners in the Green Party, now on 4 per cent, and Progressive Democrats, on 1 per cent, both saw drops of two points.

The opposition Fine Gael party saw a drop of five points to 26 per cent, while the Labour Party saw an increase of three points to 15 per cent.

Independents remained unchanged at 6 per cent, while Sinn Fein dropped two points to 6 per cent. (dpa)