Enda’s bought himself time but not trust

BATTERED and bruised by the cumulative effect of months of disastrous mistakes, shambolic confusion and obtuse arrogance, Enda Kenny this weekend begins the long, hard battle to win back the hearts and minds of the Irish people.

It remains to be seen whether the Taoiseach’s twin-pronged strategy – playing up on the one hand the remarkable turnaround in the economy in recent months and, on the other, attacking Sinn Féin – will be enough to restore public trust.

To date, as the latest opinion poll confirms, not even the Mairia Cahill affair has stopped Sinn Féin’s inexorable rise. And, while the economy is undoubtedly improving, most workers have yet to see that reflected in their own pockets.

The first test – and the first indication as to whether the new, cut-price water charge regime really does represent a turning point in the coalition’s fortunes – will come in less than three weeks, with the next scheduled wave of protests.

However, Mr Kenny’s attempt to draw a line in the sand will certainly not be helped by this newspaper’s revelation of a hugely embarrassing potential conflict of interest involving the CEO of Irish Water’s parent company – or by the initial reluctance of the company to answer our questions.

It was precisely this institutionalised arrogance and lack of transparency, as much as the actual scale of the charges initially proposed, that fuelled public anger at Irish Water to such an extent that it brought 150,000 people out on to the streets three weeks ago.

Meanwhile, in attempting to solve its own problems, the Government has left Irish Water with a major financial headache – one that will make the major investment so badly needed in our water service increasingly problematic.

Using their own figures, our research suggests the company will lose €74m a year in revenue as a result of the new charges, not the €21m initially claimed.

Mr Kenny has bought himself badly needed time. Regaining public trust will be a much slower, and infinitely more arduous, process.