Archive for February, 2011
Kenny ‘scaredy cat’ or ‘cute fox’?
Kenny ‘scaredy cat’ or ‘cute fox’?
Independent Group Local Newspapers 9/2/2011
What do we know about Enda Kenny who, according to every single poll, is looking most likely to be our next Taoiseach? But, according to the same polls, he is still not the most popular of the party leaders.
So is he like Ray MacSharry? The former Minister for Finance is credited with getting us out of our financial crisis in the eighties, when we were told “the IMF was at the door”. He lacked charisma but was supremely competent. What does our country need now, charisma or competence? Do we want populism or pragmatism?
The national media tells us Enda is a ‘scaredy cat’ because he won’t do more than three debates. The media also claim Kenny is hiding, but is the cute old fox not gliding instead – perhaps to victory?
Numerous radio programmes have asked the question, how will Mr. Kenny cope with his proposed tough re-negotiations of the IMF deal, if he’s scared of one man, Vincent Browne? But Mr. Kenny is the only leader who actually did negotiate about the number and format of the proposed TV debates. He did not readily and cravenly agree to lie down wherever the media cameras pointed like all the other party leaders. Gerry Adams and John Gormley, by agreeing to partake in the five-way debate, and allowing themselves be excluded from the three-way, have accepted their parties are ‘also-rans’ in this election. If Pearse Doherty was a leader I bet he wouldn’t have let that one by him. The Green Party have also been shut out and must console themselves that night with some tweeting to their dwindling numbers of supporters.
Vincent Browne prematurely announced the three way TV debate on HIS programme whilst the negotiations between all the parties were still ongoing with the broadcasters. He was looking to use the power of his show to bully the party leaders onto HIS programme on HIS terms. All the other leaders caved in but not Kenny. Perhaps he is the only real negotiator amongst the five leaders.
People who read this column regularly, and others I write for the Sunday Independent, know I have written more than once about the plague of suicide in Ireland. It was outrageous of Vincent Browne to say, on national television, that Enda Kenny should “take a bottle of whiskey and a gun into a dark room.” The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland found against Browne and TV3 over the comment. Enda Kenny was right to take such a stand, saying he will never appear on any programme with Vincent Browne. The thousands of families which have experienced suicide will, no doubt, understand his position.
However we need these TV debates, if only we could get over the arguments about their formats. Most voters have decided they want to punish Fianna Fáil and the Green Party for their incompetence in handling our economic crisis.
So now voters have to decide do they want Fine Gael or Labour to lead the next Government? That means they have to choose between Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore. A two-way debate is what we should have got. Why is Micheál Martin there except to apologise yet again for Fianna Fáil and the Greens bringing in the IMF, and the appalling handling of that low point in our Nation’s history.
The one thing we do know is that Enda Kenny is the country’s most experienced party leader. Incredibly he has seen off nine party leaders – Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen of Fianna Fail; Ruari Quinn and Pat Rabitte of Labour; Mary Harney, Michael McDowell and Ciaran Cannon of the Progressive Democrats; Trevor Sargent of the Green Party and Declan Ganley of Libertas.
I suspect the wily Phil Hogan, Fine Gael’s Director of Elections and Media Specialist Mark Mortell, who joined the Fine Gael team for the election, have happily allowed the impression build that Kenny is frightened of debating with Martin and Gilmore.
But what they have now engineered is a five-way warm up for their man on the 14th, where no one can win or lose, as it is just too cumbersome. Then there is a three-way debate in Irish on TG4, which relatively few will watch. So Kenny will again enjoy an easy practice run as he is, by far, the most comfortable of all three in the first official language. Then for the decisive debate on February 22nd, he will surprise everyone and possibly do quite well. Why? Because an expectation has built up that he is running scared and therefore must be a poor debater. Remember the consensus of all the pundits in 2007 was that he drew with the great communicator and man of the people, Bertie Ahern. So, if he is only moderately competent on the 22nd of this month, he will bound ahead to victory four days later. Hogan and Mortell have played the broadcasters as suckers.