Madam, – Fine Gael and Richard Bruton would be foolish to remove Enda Kenny as leader of Fine Gael. In many ways the taoiseach is only a figurehead and Mr Kenny, even if he is a lightweight, would make a grand taoiseach. It is the minister for finance who “calls the shots”: he who holds the purse-strings holds the power. Mr Bruton should not give up his one opportunity to be minister for finance and Fine Gael should realise that changing jockeys this close to the finish line could mean Fine Gael is not the winner but an also-ran.
Why would Richard Bruton want to be taoiseach – wandering around the country like Bertie Ahern, opening pubs and private hospitals – it would be a waste. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Let me get this straight. One of the worst recessions in Europe and our own worst in living memory has been shown by an independent report to be exacerbated by decisions made by the then minister for finance, now Taoiseach, through incentives offered to developers and speculators.
It was the same man who was anointed Taoiseach by his predecessor on account of his handling of the nation’s now ruined finances. The man who, according to a separate independent report, has responded to the financial crisis by bailing out the aforementioned developers and speculators who helped him ruin the economy while earning praise from the rest of Europe on how savagely he can cut the services provided to the rest of the country.
It’s the same man who has never led his party in a general election and who is denying representation to three constituencies because he fears the result for his party. Brian Cowen’s record is jaw-dropping.
How on earth can it be that the guy most likely to lose his job is Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – So it finally appears that some senior members of the Fine Gael party have realised that the battery in Enda Kenny is on the blink, and rather than recharging the waning robotic leader, the better option is to go for a newer more life-like model.
Everybody in the State should welcome this development, save the members of all our other parties, as Fine Gael might be just about to remove what heretofore has been one of its major drawbacks in being mandated by the voting public to form the next government. The electorate had its say on Enda Kenny in 2007 and we all know what happened then. We haven’t had our say on Brian Cowen yet, but with a potential more credible alternative emerging the time may be fast approaching. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – While Brian Cowen clings desperately to power, there are rumblings of a leadership challenge in Fine Gael. Whether Enda Kenny is toppled or not, we have a deeper crisis than the issue of the current leadership of the political parties in this country, and that is who we choose to lead us and why.
A serious consequence of decades of clientelism and parochial politics has favoured the evolution of a certain familiar political style where too much substance (the Garret FitzGerald kind) is frowned upon (ask Leo Varadkar). The inevitable result is that when we go seeking that other style of politician (the statesmanly kind) we find that the two houses of the Oireachtas between them host barely a handful of politicians with either the requisite style or substance – and even fewer still with both.
Long have we been happy to hoist Brian Cowen and his ilk on our shoulders (proverbially and literally), oblivious to the fact that he and other similar characters were leading the nation down the economic tubes. Such is the political fate of a nation which put political attendances at local funerals and local GAA matches before legislating in the national interest.
Fine Gael, should be wary of making an old but familiar mistake. A lot is being said (and not said) about Enda Kenny’s qualities to lead this nation as a taoiseach, but (solo-runs and that “accent” aside) the measure of a leader is in what he does. Mr Kenny, for all his shortcomings, has re-birthed a substantial political force in Fine Gael out of – what had become by the time he took the reigns – a famished political carcass. At the critical time, such a man deserves the opportunity to save our economy and I for one would happily forgive him for saying ‘”Cashel-baar” or even quoting his “Mammy”, if he repeated that trick with the national finances. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Last February, when George Lee resigned from the Dáil and after abject media performances, people were questioning Enda Kenny’s leadership of Fine Gael.
It was reported that there was a lengthy parliamentary party meeting which was “frank and honest” in its assessment of his leadership, and after this, he pledged to “be myself and I’m going to speak out from my heart” (Home News, February 10th).
Has Enda Kenny or Fine Gael learned anything from this episode, and if they haven’t, why is he still leader of the opposition? Mr Kenny has been caught up more in procedure in the Dáil than tackling the issues that grip our country. If Fine Gael thinks it can sleepwalk into power, your poll shows clearly that this is not the case and a change is needed in the leadership. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The media are reporting that there is a furore in Fine Gael over the recent opinion polls and that Enda Kenny’s position as leader is under threat.
Has Fine Gael forgotten the disaster of the “John Bruton as Taoiseach” period when we had government by hysterical reaction to every published poll? If Fine Gael changes its leader because of a poor opinion poll, it is proving that it has learned nothing from this period and that it does not have the maturity and balance to form a government. – Yours, etc,