Very different reactions…
Maybe you’ve been away from your phone, or the radio, or the television, or any kind of access to the internet for the last few hours so you haven’t heard the news.
Enda Kenny is stepping down as leader of Fine Gael at midnight on Wednesday and as is natural with all news such as this, there was a strong reaction to the news on social media.
Leaders of other parties in the country have been having their say about Enda Kenny’s leadership on the eve of his departure as leader of Fine Gael, including Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and Fianna Fáil’s Micheal Martin.
Michael Martin paid a lovely tribute and thanked Enda Kenny for his years of service and wished him well in the coming years.
https://twitter.com/paraicgallagher/status/864887966946267137
Whereas Adams did wish him well, but also threw in some fairly hefty barbs for luck.
Speaking after Kenny’s annnouncement, Gerry Adams said: “Following the Taoiseach’s announcement this evening, I would like to wish Enda Kenny, his wife Fionnuala, and their family well. It will be a big a change in all of their lives.
“He and I disagree on many political issues, but I acknowledge that he did his best from his perspective.
“From Sinn Féin’s perspective, this was not good enough. In 2011, Mr Kenny came to power with the largest majority in the history of the state. He promised a democratic revolution.
“Six years on and his political legacy is dominated by crisis, chaos, and chronic lack of accountability. There is an ongoing and unprecedented crisis in housing and homelessness. The health service is in chaos and there is the deep crisis in policing and justice.
“The government’s strategy for dealing with the challenge of Brexit, acknowledged as the greatest threat to the economies of this island in generations, is deeply flawed.
“There also a clear lack of affinity with the North and a clear lack of consistent strategic engagement on the process of change that is required to sustain the political institutions.
“This is a do-nothing government courtesy of the confidence and supply arrangement with the government’s partner in Fianna Fáil. The reality is that so-called new politics, led by Mr Kenny and the Micheál Martin, isn’t new at all. As a result, there is a deep paralysis in the body politic.
“The reality is that Fine Gael, no matter who leads them, are firmly wedded to the policies that cause so much hardship in the daily lives of ordinary people. That will not change under Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney or any other contender. We need a change of Government, not just a change of Taoiseach.”
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