National media told to ‘lay off’ Kenny

National media told to ‘lay off’ Kenny


Anton McNulty

The Dublin media have been told to ‘lay off’ Enda Kenny, end their prejudices against him and show him some respect as the next Taoiseach of the country.
The show of support for the Taoiseach-elect was made at yesterday’s meeting of Mayo County Council, with the initial message coming not from the ranks of Fine Gael councillors but from Cllr Al McDonnell of Fianna FΡil.
Cllr McDonnell said that the day Enda Kenny becomes Taoiseach will be a historic day for Mayo and he wished him and his family all the best of luck in the future. He said that he had taken a lot of abuse from the national media, which he claimed was prejudiced because he comes from the west.
“It would be desirable that the national media treat the Taoiseach with respect and the respect he deserves. There has been serious abuse directed at Enda Kenny in the past and hopefully the Dublin media will layoff him. He has been subject to abuse just because he is from the west,” he said.
The tributes for Enda Kenny were led by Cllr Joe Mellett of Fine Gael, who said that February 26 was the ‘greatest day in history for the people of Mayo’ when they elected four Fine Gael TDs. He proposed that a civic reception should be held for him at the earliest opportunity and this was seconded by Cllr Frank Durcan.
He also congratulated Michelle Mulherin on her election victory and added that her absence from the Council chamber would be deeply missed.
Independent councillor Gerry Ginty also congratulated Enda Kenny and Michelle Mulherin on their achievements and added that he had ‘great faith’ that Kenny could deliver – but would have more faith if he was without the ‘Workers Party, Democratic Left or the Labour party or whatever they called themselves’.
Cllr Michael Holmes commented that if the national media had its way Enda Kenny would not be ‘the leader of his party never mind the country’.
There were also messages of support to Cllr Michael Kilcoyne and Cllr Rose Conway-Walsh who were unsuccessful in the election. Cllr Kilcoyne wished Enda Kenny success but felt it would be wrong to overlook Michael Ring for a senior minister’s post.
He warned that if he makes the same mistakes as Fianna FΡil, the Fine Gael councillors in the chambers could be in the minority after the local elections.
A special meeting of the Council will take place on March 21 to discuss who will be co-opted onto the Council to replace Michelle Mulherin.