The can-kicking continues.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has stated that he wants to accompany Enterprise Ireland on a trip to the US next month, adding fuel to the ever-burning fire about his resignation as leader.
The Irish Times reports that Kenny is expected to address the leadership issue at a parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday.
Speaking at the launch of an Enterprise Ireland strategy document on Monday, Kenny said: “I hope to visit Chicago in the near future with a trade mission from Enterprise Ireland where there are many valuable companies wishing to expand their reach across the Atlantic.”
Leadership contenders Simon Coveney and Leo Varadkar were both said to be expecting Kenny to announce his intention to leave on Wednesday, but if Kenny is to take a trip across the Atlantic, he could hold on to the reins until at least the summer recess.
The Fine Gael Press Office told JOE that the parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday, which takes place at 5.30pm, has been described as a ‘regular meeting’.
But when asked whether Enda Kenny would be addressing the leadership issue at this meeting, the Fine Gael Press Office and Government Press Office both refused to comment on the matter.
The confusion around Kenny’s leadership has been on-going for some time now. In February, at a meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, he said he would deal with his future effectively and conclusively after St. Patrick’s Day.
A month after his official trip to Washington, there was still no resolution on the matter but Kenny announced that he would make his intentions very clear as soon as the ground rules for Brexit negotiations had been put in place.
Now a trip to Chicago could see Kenny prolong his tenure as longest serving Fine Gael Taoiseach even further.
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