Who cares if Kenny is still leader?

So Enda Kenny has been confirmed as leader of Fine Gael. So what? Is it going to make any great difference one way or the other whether it was himself or Richard Bruton that won the vote last Thursday?

OK. It may mean, of course, that Enda Kenny rather than Richard Bruton will be the next taoiseach. But, really, does it matter that much which of them becomes taoiseach? Because no matter whether the next taoiseach is Enda Kenny or Richard Bruton, the same policies will be pursued.
Last Thursday’s vote of confidence in Enda Kenny as leader of Fine Gael had no significance. It was no different to a beauty contest. His opponents did not criticise Enda Kenny for his lack of ideas or policies. What they focused on was his lack of style and charisma and his inability to communicate.
So Richard Bruton has all those talents that Enda Kenny lacks? I don’t think so. He may have a better grasp of economics than Enda Kenny has but that’s about it. Ask George Lee.
Now, both sides are telling us that what we are seeing is a new Enda Kenny. They are telling us – and some of the dissidents appear to be agreeing with Kenny supporters on this – that the vote of confidence has strengthened Enda Kenny. That he has shown himself to be a man of steel; that the party is now united behind him.
What a load of codswallop. They obviously take us to be complete idiots. They think we’ll swallow anything.
The truth is that Enda Kenny is as Enda Kenny was. The vote of confidence made no more difference to him than the new hairstyle they gave him a few years ago.
Enda is a nice guy. He is good company and I hope the vote of confidence didn’t turn him into somebody you wouldn’t like or fancy in your company.
Whatever ‘steel’ he displayed in confronting his opponents did not come from his inner self but was instilled into him by his side-kick in this contest, Phil Hogan.
Those who voted against Enda last week know him better than most of the rest of us. Some of them – perhaps all of them – will in the coming days or weeks pretend that they now have full confidence in his leadership. Although that is liable to change if the next opinion is also bad.
But you can ignore those pledges of loyalty. They cannot undo what has been done. They didn’t suddenly gain confidence in a man just because he won a vote.
Let’s call a spade a spade here. Enda Kenny does not have what it takes to lead this country into the future. At least half of his own parliamentary party know that. So too, perhaps, a majority of those who voted in his favour last Thursday.
I am damn sure a lot of them voted in his favour out of a sense of loyalty to whoever happened to be leader and in order to avoid an open split in the party. Others would have voted for him for their own personal reasons.
So when those closest to him have no confidence in him, how can they expect the rest of us to have such confidence?
His opponents, however, made such a bags of the heave last week that it is going to be very hard for us to have any confidence in any of them either. However, they may have learned something from this and make a better job of it next time. That is, if there is a next time.
They may decide to settle down, accept whatever job Enda gives them, make the best of it and hope they get some kind of ministerial position after the next election.
It is, of course, impossible for outsiders to know who Enda Kenny will have on his new front bench, apart from the certainties such as Phil Hogan, James Reilly, Alan Shatter, Michael Ring and other supporters.
Some of my colleagues are looking forward to the prospect of Michael Noonan returning to the front bench as spokesman on finance. They cannot wait to see the former Fine Gael leader tear strips off Brian Lenihan in the Dáil.
However, some of those people are living in the past. They think Michael Noonan’s second coming will put a speedy end to the Government’s delicate hold on office as he spearheads the full frontal assault on the present administration and at the same time, outshine Joan Burton and Eamon Gilmore.
Yet they seem to forget that Michael Noonan’s first coming wasn’t all that fantastic. His handling of the health portfolio led to the downfall of the John Bruton-led rainbow coalition in 1997 and his subsequent leadership of the party led to the humiliation at the polls in 2002.
But all of these issues should be put into perspective. Last Friday’s Irish Times devoted around four full pages, ­including news reports, analysis, opinion pieces, letters and editorial on the Fine Gael leadership issue.
On the same day, tucked into the bottom of page two, was a short three-paragraph report about a major fish kill on a river in County Limerick caused by an overflow of farm slurry into the river.
We are destroying one of our most important natural resources, an issue that will have a devastating effect on future generations of Irish people.
Yet this matter is treated only as an insignificant item used to fill a gap in a page of one of the most respected newspapers in this country. Need I say more?