NI voting intention poll a dud?

The Belfast Telegraph has promised an opinion poll in tomorrow's paper intended to give an indication of voting intention in Northern Ireland, just two days before the general election. No doubt its findings could influence some voters who have not yet made up their mind.

But, before it is even published, serious questions have been raised about the poll's validity, the company conducting it (which appears to have connections to the DUP) and its methods. Michael Shilliday at Slugger:

Last week the Belfast Telegraph published the latest in a series of opinion polls conduced by Public Affairs Company, Inform Communications. They also say that on Tuesday there will be a voting intentions poll conducted by the same firm, which will let us know the state of the parties two days before polling day.

Inform Communications are not a polling company. As far as I can tell they are not a member of the British Polling Council, and they are not Company Partners of theMarket Research Society. I have not seen full data sets being disclosed by the company in relation to polls conducted and published, as is industry standard.

Inform according to it’s website has two directors. One is Linda Beers, who writes op-eds for every poll conducted, and the other is Ross Williamson. I know Ross, he was Chairman of Lagan Valley Young Unionists when I joined the UUP. He followed Jeffrey Donaldson to the DUP in 2004, and remains a keen supporter of his, to the extent that he publicly and vocally supports him.