Leadership saga is a distraction too far

DID he get carried away by all the attention in Washington?

Just 24 hours after being labelled as a good friend by US President Donald Trump, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has his eyes on sticking around for a while longer.

Mr Kenny is now suggesting he will stall the forthcoming Fine Gael leadership race until he can deal with the “immediate priorities” of Northern Ireland and Brexit.

The Taoiseach was in New York yesterday, striding down the one-and-a-half miles of a green traffic line along Fifth Avenue that guided the St Patrick’s Day marchers down the parade route.

He indicated he won’t be making a prompt statement on his resignation when he returns from America.

And he rejected several questions on his future plans, saying he’ll deal with the Fine Gael parliamentary party.

“I have a number of immediate priorities on my desk when I arrive back tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock and I intend to get started on those,” he said.

Forgive us for showing an interest in the future leadership of the country. This is about far more than just the Fine Gael leadership. Mr Kenny appears to have failed to draw the distinction between the current circumstances and when he became party leader 15 years ago, when Fine Gael was a struggling opposition party.

He deserves credit for transforming his party but he must accept his successor will become our next Taoiseach.

Within the party, it is unlikely Mr Kenny will get a warm reception to the notion he’s going to stick around longer.

The saga of the Taoiseach’s clinging to power is a distraction from the important business of Government.

After the farewell tour comes the farewell.