I don’t mind saying Enda will be missed
IKNOW it may not be too popular to say so but I’m going to miss Enda Kenny. He was certainly the father figure, the one to look up and above all else he was the one who steadied the ship in the wake of the worst economic recession that hit the country. I always felt the country was in safe hands with Enda at the helm. Above all else he had integrity and I always felt we could send him anywhere, that he wouldn’t let us down no matter where he went. He oozed respect and decency,, traits all too rare in the modern era. And, he made his point when he had to. Take his visit to the US for St Patrick’s Day. There was such nonsense being talked about in advance that he shouldn’t be going because the Americans in their wisdom had elected Donald Trump as President.
Enda was right to go and he displayed real Statesman like quality in the delivery of an excellent speech at the Whitehouse in front of Trump on the valued contribution of Irish emigrants- a video which went viral and which has been viewed more than 30 million times. He really did put Trump in his place with that speech without making reference to the President and that was the way to deal with him. It was the same courage Enda displayed when he rightly had a go at the Vatican in 2011 for its response to child abuse allegations in the Cloyne diocese. It was a well overdue criticism of the Catholic Church and it came from the heart and in doing so the Taoiseach represented the views of the vast majority of people. Likewise when he enthusiastically backed a the Marriage referendum.
The words honesty and integrity are all too easily bandied about these days but Enda Kenny had them in abundance along with a sense of humility and he became the country’s longest serving Taoiseach through sheer hard work and dedication and which rightly earned him the respect of others both in Ireland and abroad.
In the Dáil since 1975 and Fine Gael party leader since 2002, Enda put the country first and sacrificed an awful lot to do so. Of course, he made mistakes along the way but didn’t Bertie and Brian and Charlie before him did the same and I know whose style of leadership and lifestyle I prefer.
In announcing the ending of his political career, Enda paid special tribute to his wife Fionnuala and their children “for their understanding of my work, and indeed for accepting the many intrusions of politics into family life in the interest of building our country”. And, that is often overlooked by those who like to fling mud especially the keyboard warriors. I met the Taoiseach on a few occasions and twice I had the pleasure of sit- down interviews with him in the recent past at The Sligo Park Hotel. He’s an incredibly likeable, affable person and very easy to get on with. I’ve always ended up joking and laughing with him. Good manners too went hand in hand with him.
It must be remembered that the country was broke before Enda took over. A trio of international lenders, International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank rescued the country from bankruptcy in 2010 with a bailout that eventually topped € 85 billion. Who will ever forget the arrival of the Troika at Government buildings led by IMF mission chief Ajai Chopra? It was like we had given up our sovereignty and thankfully it didn’t last too long. Under Kenny’s leadership over the past six years, Ireland became the first stricken eurozone state to exit its rescue programme. Greece, whose approach many people felt we should have followed and adopt a sit on our hands attitude, suffered and their ATMS did run out of money. Granted, the recovery has been slow and mainly east coast centred but Enda and his Governments since 2011 have got the country moving in the right direction again after a disastrous spell. Unemployment is down to 6.2 per cent and growth is forecast now for the economy each year. Above all else, Enda Kenny wore his heart on his sleeve and was an honest person never out for personal gain. History will certainly be kind to him and I wish him the best.