Last week it was Fianna Fail's turn. There are valid questions about the TNS/MRBI adjustment methodology, which has never been tested against actual general election results. But a trend is a trend is a trend. And all recent national opinion polls show Fianna Fail heading into a general election campaign in a weakened position, with Fine Gael getting an uplift in support.

Now for the first time since his commanding Dail performance during the statutory rape controversy last summer, we can start to talk about Enda Kenny as Taoiseach.

So what has changed in recent weeks? If Kenny's ardfheis performance was the spark, then his satisfaction rating should have increased. It did not, and remains relatively low and static. Fine Gael may, however, be benefiting from leading the debate on stamp duty despite another poll last week showing the issue is well down the voters' list of policy priorities. Possibly Fianna Fail's piousness about protecting the property market has annoyed voters. They want a certainty about decisions which Fianna Fail has thus far declined to provide. The voters may also be fed up with Bertie Ahern's long drawn-out guessing game about the election date.

But maybe there is something more fundamental underway which the recent polls have picked up. "We're ready for change. Are you with us?" the Labour campaign slogan ponders. If there is a serious mood for change, after a decade of FF/PD rule, then Ahern is in trouble. All Fine Gael has to do is keep its man on the road repeating the same 'change' mantra over and over again. The Fine Gael revival is also squeezing Labour. The party's national poll ratings have been flat for some time but the dip in the most recent poll is a serious worry for Pat Rabbitte. Based on the recent poll results we know only one thing: Labour . . . whatever its Dail representation . . . looks like being part of the next coalition. What's to be decided is the major party in that government.

Sean Lemass on the canvas trail A NEW portrait of Sean Lemass has been hung in Leinster House. Its previous home was in the dining room at Abbeville in north county Dublin. The painting, by artist Sean O'Sullivan, has been presented by the Haughey family to the Committee on Procedures and Privileges. But when asked, a spokesman for the Oireachtas could not say whether the "presentation" of the portrait was a loan, a gift or a donation. "All issues to do with the Committee on Procedures and Privileges are private. It would be improper to ask further, " a spokesman said.

The relevant minutes of a recent CPP meeting (not so private, after all! ) are quite revealing. "The portrait belongs to the Haughey family, who now wish to present it to Leinster House. . . It would then be placed on display in the balcony area for up to 12 months and the Haughey family would be consulted on any future decision regarding the display of the portrait, " the minutes read.

Since that meeting, Maurice MacGonigal's portrait of Lemass . . . which has been displayed in Leinster House for many years . . . has been replaced by the O'Sullivan portrait.

There will shortly be another addition to the walls in Leinster House. A portrait of the late Brian Lenihan is to be hung. But artists like Graham Knuttel, who recently painted portraits of all taoisigh, should not rush in with offers of more paintings.

The CPP minutes state that "the committee specified that only works of art with artistic merit may be displayed in Leinster House". Amongst those TDs who will define "artistic merit" are Rory O'Hanlon, Donie Cassidy, Noel Davern and Aengus O Snodaigh.

SEAN Connick in Wexford (LEFT) and Terry O'Brien in Kerry North are decent bets to be TDs after the election. Both men are wheelchair bound and their possible arrival in Leinster House has necessitated a review of disability access in the Dail chamber. The authorities in Leinster House have agreed to install two temporary "mahogany structures" to accommodate wheelchair bound TDs.

Far from civil behaviour IFthe election is called before the Dail meets on Tuesday afternoon then Fine Gael's Phil Hogan can claim credit for sparking one of the final verbal spats of the 28th Dail.

On Thursday, Hogan asked Micheal Martin what role civil servants played in preparing one of Fianna Fail's 'next steps' documents. "Evidence suggested to us that the minister again engaged civil servants in political activity, " Hogan thundered. Martin took the bait.

"It is unfair and the allegation should be withdrawn. It is like Forrest Gump claiming he found the files on Nixon. It is pathetic and ridiculous."