At midnight on Friday week, Ahern will begin his 3,166th day as Taoiseach, over-taking Lynch, who was Taoiseach for 3,165 days spread across two spells . . . 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979.

And Ahern will soon leapfrog Cosgrave to take the number two spot in the league table of long serving taoisigh.

Cosgrave, who had the title of President of the Executive Council rather than Taoiseach, was the Irish state's first prime minister, serving for 3,381 days between 1922 and 1932.

Ahern, who became Taoiseach in June 1997, will surpass this achievement in late September, assuming his government survives and he does not fall under a bus. However, he is unlikely to challenge De Valera's number one status.

The 1916 leader and founder of Fianna Fail was President of the Executive Council, and later Taoiseach, for 7,435 days during three spells in office , , a total of over 20 years.

The current Taoiseach, who will be 55 in September, has already signalled that he will quit politics by the age of 60, which means the next general election will be the last he will contest as Fianna Fail leader.

After a difficult three-and-ahalf years since the government's re-election in 2002, there is growing optimism within Fianna Fail that the party can hold onto power after the next general election.

It is understood that the results of the latest set of private polls, commissioned by Fianna Fail, have confirmed the recent improvement in the party's fortunes in newspaper opinion polls.

Private polls carried out by the party last year . . . and revealed in the Sunday Tribune . . . had suggested that the party could lose 15 seats in a general election, a result likely to consign the party to the opposition benches.

However, the latest polls, carried out after December's giveaway budget, are understood to be more positive for Fianna Fail. "The results are quite a bit better. The feeling is a corner has been turned, " one close observer said, adding that nobody was getting carried away. The polls also showed increased satisfaction with the way the Taoiseach was performing, sources said.

It is also understood that the issue of immigration did come up in the research carried out by the party. While it highlighted serious concerns about the number of immigrants coming into Ireland, the prevailing view within Fianna Fail at the moment is that if the party adopts a progressive approach to immigration, it will go down well with more liberal voters not traditionally attracted to Fianna Fail. This may explain the Taoiseach's no-nonsense language in dismissing Fine Gael's claim that childcare payments to non-national children, living outside the state, could cost 150m.