Fine Gael will reconcile rift - Kenny

Fine Gael hope to reconcile rift


Fallout
Áine Ryan

AS EMBATTLED Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny left Mayo shortly after dawn yesterday morning (Monday) and travelled north for his first meeting of the day with the legendary peace-making group, Co-operation Ireland, he’s bound to have had a wry smile on his face.
The irony that rebel TDs, Fergus O’Dowd and Brian Hayes was also part of the delegation, meeting with northern Irish leaders and groups, was a pithy reminder that ‘a week is a long time in politics’.
Speaking from Castlebar over the weekend on RTE’s The Week in Politics, Kenny reaffirmed conciliatory gestures, made as early as last Tuesday, towards challenger, Richard Bruton.
When Sean O’Rourke asked him did he want Mr Bruton on his front bench, he replied: “Yes”.
Then when pressed over what position, he said: “I will not comment on any individual appointments. It’s only fair to everybody. If they feel they have a contribution to make to a new front bench for Fine Gael I’ll consider all of those opportunities.”
Speaking to The Mayo News last night, his loyal lieutenant, Michael Ring, who batted in every corner for him all week, conceded it was now a time for ‘healing and reconciliation’ within the party.
“We need to heal the rifts that developed and remain united. I don’t think all of the rebels will be back on the front bench but some of them will be and should be back. We have an awful lot of talent,” Deputy Ring said.
When asked about his own political aspirations, he said: “I hope to be left on the front bench and will be happy to serve in whatever role Enda wants to give me.”
Michael Ring also said: “I believe the public have seen Enda in a different light now and that will be proven in the coming months.”
Meanwhile, speculation is rife that it will be bruiser and former leader, Michael Noonan that is appointed Finance spokesman, with the errant Bruton being offered either an Enterprise or Education portfolio.
Noonan has said publicly that appointing Bruton would help heal divisions. It is expected that Health spokesman, James O’Reilly, who was a leading stalwart during the failed coup, will be left with his present portfolio, due to his professional expertise. Whether he is further rewarded with the position of deputy leader, or that is given to Phil Hogan is a matter of speculation. Party elder, Alan Shatter is expected to be given the justice portfolio with Paul Kehoe left as party whip.  
Reportedly, Kenny is set to begin contacting colleagues today (Tuesday) regarding his appointments.
Some party pundits expect young and talented turk Leo Varadkar to be reappointed, as well as Olwyn Enright, Fergus O’Dowd, Charlie O’Flanagan and Brian Hayes. They say Billy Timmins, Denis Naughten, Simon Coveney, Olivia Mitchell and Michael Creed will be fired.
Undoubtedly, as the Kenny entourage drove back to Dublin last night the reconciliation achieved amongst northern politicians must have held a certain resonance and relevance.

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Kenny’s challenging week in politics


Chronology
Áine Ryan

At 3.30pm last Tuesday afternoon the sun splintered through the windows of the chamber of Castlebar Town Council headquarters in Marsh House. After Mayor Michael Kilcoyne opened the Joint Policing Committee meeting which was due to focus on anti-social behaviour in the county town, the Fine Gael member, Cllr Ger Deere apologised on behalf of committee member, Enda Kenny.
“Unfortunately Enda isn’t available to attend today’s meeting. He’s busy himself dealing with some anti-social behaviour in Dublin,” Cllr Deere said with a devilish twinkle.
Whether Kenny’s right-hand man in his hometown was privy to a party-political crystal ball is irrelevant now. This time a week ago, there were still over 48 gruelling hours to pass while Enda Kenny’s political future as leader of Fine Gael, and the next Taoiseach, teetered on a knife-edge.

Rumours
FOR months there had been rumours of wobbles and potential putsches within the higher echelons of Fine Gael. When poster boy economist, George Lee sensationally quit on February 8 last – a mere nine months after his landslide victory in Dublin South – he confirmed these rumbles and said ‘something will come to a head’.
Ironically, it was ten days ago (Friday, June 11) while Kenny was in Cork honouring former leader, Peter Barry, and Bruton was in Killiney, along with some of his cohorts, attending the wedding reception of a Fine Gael legal adviser, that the coup became concentrated. Apparently a poll published in The Irish Times caused certain nerves to further fray.
The previous night, Richard Bruton had been on Prime Time to discuss the damning banking reports. As Miriam O’Callaghan finished her interview she challenged him about the results of the next day’s poll, which showed Fine Gael falling a further four points to 28 per cent and now in an unprecedented second place to the Labour Party.
“Do you still have faith in your leader now?” O’Callaghan asked.
Bruton obfuscated.
“Do you have confidence in your leader after this poll?” she pressed.
Bruton responded with talk of ‘transformational change’ and changes in ‘the political culture’.
O’Callaghan persisted: “It is a yes or a no there.”
Fuelling the rumours, Richard Bruton effectively declined to express confidence in his leader.

Strategies and pre-emptive strikes
HOWEVER, in the coming days, what quickly became clear was that neither Bruton, nor his rebel supporters, understood how cute and canny the Kenny camp was.
They already had their ears close to the ground, their fingers on the pulse of the bush telegraph and, most importantly, their gloves off.
The first clear sign of superior strategy was when Kenny, in a pre-emptive and surprise move, sacked Bruton as deputy leader and finance spokesman on Monday evening (June 15).
This immediately stymied Bruton’s aborted attempt to put down a vote of no confidence at the scheduled front bench meeting the following morning. And in yet another clever move Enda Kenny swept into that meeting, read the riot act and before the rebels could say boo had disbanded the entire front bench, pending a reshuffle.
It wouldn’t be a small group from the front bench that would decides his fate, he warned.
Regrouped, just hours later, at lunchtime on Tuesday, nine members of the rebel front bench dramatically walked out to the plinth at Leinster House and announced they no longer had confidence in Kenny.
“There is no wrong time to make the right decision,” said rebel, Denis Naughten TD.
The challengers argued that while Enda Kenny had been a brilliant organiser and had rebuilt the party after the disastrous 2002 election, he failed to display a credible grasp of the country’s economic travails.
Among the declared challengers were Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney, Olivia Mitchell and Brian Hayes. Those who stood out in the Kenny camp last week were Phil Hogan, Alan Shatter, Mairead McGuinness MEP, as well as Mayo’s Michael Ring.

Victorious Kenny
TWO days later, shortly after 5pm on Thursday last, following a marathon five-hour meeting, Enda Kenny was declared victorious in the challenge by his sacked deputy, Richard Bruton.
Minutes earlier he received a standing ovation after his passionate speech that preceded the secret-ballot.
Making the announcement, the party chairman, Padraic McCormack announced ‘the motion [of confidence] was carried after a very tough debate’. He also revealed that the vote ratio would not be disclosed and the ballot papers would be shredded.  Speaking to The Mayo News afterwards, Michael Ring said he was ‘really pleased Enda has been re-elected’.
“This is a good evening for the party, for the country and for the county,” Michael Ring said. “Today’s meeting was a very emotional day for everyone but it was a very constructive meeting. There was no rancour.”

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Cappucinnos and hang sandwiches


Opinion
Áine Ryan

IF only the cappuccino cabal had watched and learned from the brilliant Johnston, Mooney and O’Brien television ads for bread before its botched palace coup. Whatever about that crass peasant habit of rural politicians still eating their dinner in the middle of the day, at least they would have discovered they no longer eat ‘hang sandwiches’ when saving the turf in the bog. Apparently, avocado and prawn is de rigueur these days way over here in the wild west.
Early last Saturday morning this reporter talked briefly by phone to an in-studio panel on Brendan O’Brien’s Newstalk radio show about the Fine Gael heave. At one point a panelist ­– whose name unsurprisingly escapes me – suggested that we were ‘all right in Mayo’ since (another aspirant Taoiseach) Eamonn Gilmore, the leader of the Labour Party, was also a native.
I pointed out that Gilmore is a native of Galway.
“Ah! Well, he’s from somewhere over there,” interjected presenter, Brendan O’Brien.
Okay, O’Brien was being humourous but his observation is both pithy and pivotal.
Geographically, County Mayo is distant from the centre of power. Culturally it is also relatively remote from an historic elitism, exacerbated by the superficial snobbery of the Celtic Tiger.
Fine Gael Cllr Joe Mellett  has been excoriated and mocked for shouting ‘Up Mayo’ after a jubilant and victorious Enda Kenny walked out onto the plinth of Leinster House last Thursday evening.
It is unlikely that if Richard Bruton had been the victor, there would have been shouts and whoops of ‘Up Drumcondra’, or ‘Up Coolock’.
Here is exposed a simple but fatal flaw in the tactics of the rebels. The cappuccino cabal failed to connect with the grassroots; the heart and spirit of their party. How naïve. How arrogant.
AS the designer-label plot was being honed last Friday week among a number of the guests at the Killiney wedding reception of a Fine Gael legal adviser, Enda Kenny was in Cork at a ceremony to honour former leader, Peter Barry.
This old-fashioned loyalty underpins Kenny’s political ethos and style. This quality was also echoed all week by loyal lieutenant, Michael Ring, who batted eloquently and passionately for his constituency colleague. 
During the heat of the heave, when questioned by the media, many of his detractors argued that loyalty was over-rated. They praised Enda for reorganising and rebuilding the party in the aftermath of the disastrous 2002 election result but argued, it was now time to move over for the Oxbridge educated, economics guru, Bruton.
By last Monday night Bruton had already proven (on both RTE’s The Frontline and TV3’s Tonight with Vincent Browne) he was a nervous nerd with not a scintilla of charisma. One wonders how loyal the young and ambitious turks – Varadkar, Creighton and Hayes – will now be to their humiliated pretender.
When another nerdy economist, George Lee dramatically resigned from Fine Gael in February, Enda Kenny promised he’d be more himself in future.
In the last week he has done just that. He has shown his mettle, intelligence, calmness, and ability to be the next Taoiseach. He should trust these instincts.
After all, Enda Kenny is not the one with cappuccino froth on his face this week.