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ENDA KENNY’S PENCHANT for story-telling has come under the spotlight this week after he recalled being warned by the Central Bank governor about the possibility of needing the army to guard ATMs.
Speaking in Madrid on Thursday, Kenny said that Patrick Honohan had warned that banks and ATMs may need to be manned by the army if the government introduced capital controls during the financial crisis.
The story has become a staple of Kenny’s public remarks in recent weeks. He’s repeated it three times this month alone, though some have questioned its veracity.
But whether it is true or not there’s no doubt the Taoiseach likes to tell stories.
His reputation for story-telling focuses quite a bit on people he meets and what they tell him. As he told delegates at the EPP conference in Madrid this week:
I walk to work, meet the bus men, the taxi drivers, the ordinary people. On the streets, they tell me things that others might not tell me.
Kenny has met hundreds of people over the last few years. Here are just a few examples of what he told them and they told him…
1. The woman who drove from Cavan
When he was leader of the opposition, Kenny criticised deficiencies in the public transport system and recalled meeting a woman from Cavan:
I met a woman this morning who had driven from County Cavan for an appointment in the Mater hospital. She had no bus transport and eventually got a taxi in order to get to her appointment.
2. The man on the building site
Speaking in the Dáil a few months after entering office, Kenny said he had been delighted to turn the sod on a major site in Mahon, Co Cork and recalled meeting a man on the site:
The American company involved expects to double its workforce here. A man on the site said to me on that day: ‘It’s great to hear the sound of buckets rattling round this site again.’ That is the type of expression of confidence we must get back.
3. The Fianna Fáil TD with three blocks in his boot
In 2012, Kenny told Timmy Dooley about his meeting with a Fianna Fáil TD:
It is a long time since I met a Fianna Fáil Deputy travelling with three concrete blocks in the boot of the car to start the school long before it was announced.
4. The man who was Michael Healy-Rae
In December 2012, Kenny told the Dáil about meeting Kerry South TD Micheal Healy-Rae:
The Deputy is looking well since I met him in the street in Killarney.
5. The supporters of Gerry Adams
That same month, Kenny told Gerry Adams about meeting Sinn Féin supporters while he was out canvassing with Paschal Donohoe:
I was in Phibsboro last Saturday with Deputy Paschal Donohoe when I met some of Deputy Gerry Adams’s supporters on the street who were handing out leaflets attacking the Labour Party, but these supporters were not able to answer any question about any of the issues mentioned on the leaflets regarding the fantasy economics in which Sinn Féin was engaged.
6. The supporters of Richard Boyd-Barrett
Two years ago, Kenny spoke about meeting with supporters of People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd-Barrett in Killiney, telling the Dún Laoghaire deputy:
I met some of his supporters in Killiney the other night, but I could not understand what they were saying. I understand they were operating on his instructions. They were a sort of clearing house group under the trees.
7. The young man from Waterford
In 2013, Kenny told the Dáil about a young man who emigrated but had since come home to start his own business:
I met a young man in Waterford the other day who went to Australia, worked for 14 months doing two and three jobs when he could, came back with €100,000 and set up his own business, and he was very happy to do so. It was his choice to earn money where he could, do two or three jobs where he could get them and come back with that intention.
8. The young mother
Last year, Kenny recalled meeting a young mother while out canvassing:
She had three children under five and she cried bitter tears in that she had been sent to a very small apartment with inadequate facilities in an area that is used by drug pushers and drug users. It was a very powerful statement made by this young mother.
9. The homeless man whose sleeping bag he looked after
At the height of the homelessness crisis last Christmas, Kenny recalled going on the streets to meet homeless people, saying in the cold and rain he met “alcoholics, drug addicts and returned immigrants”. Speaking about one person he met, he said:
Some of them shook my hand and a young man thanked me for looking after his sleeping bag while he went to find and use facilities nearby. There were men and women with addiction, heroin addicts, people on methadone and so on. They were still able to find a kind word. They said: “I have to rob, I have to beg; I need this to keep me going. Do you understand me?” I do, to an extent.
10. The man with two pints
Perhaps the most famous meeting of them all, Kenny told the Dáil on 1 April (of all days!) this year about a man he met with two pints in his hand:
The man who stopped me with the two pints in his hand last week shouting about the cost of water that he could not pay. I said to him [that] what he was holding in his hands would pay for water for him – because I know him – for nearly ten weeks.
11. The homeless man in Merrion Square
Last, but not least, at the Fine Gael presidential dinner a week ago, Kenny told of having met a homeless man in Merrion Square in Dublin city centre:
I went for a little walk today around Merrion Square. Inside I sat on a bench for 20 minutes with a homeless man who told me his story – from England, to here, to where he is now – it was a heart-wrenching story I have to say.
He went on to say that the man had been working to improve his position and that, “he is almost there with the work that he has taken on personally that he is doing.”
With an election coming up, we’re sure Kenny will be meeting a lot more people in the coming months.
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Yes I try but it’s next to impossible! Single use plastics should be taxed out of existence!
@John Smith: Highest taxed nation in the EU.. Tax is not the answer…
@Willy Mc Caul: no we are not.
@Tellhimwhynot: we are when you include all the other scam taxes.
@Tellhimwhynot: Yes we are just think about it for a bit, from your wages to what you buy, Services etc and property tax that no councillor or td can give you the same answer to what’s its for.
@John Smith: so more taxes that will inevitably be passed onto the consumer is the answer?
@Tellhimwhynot: we are for what you get back. Scandinavian countries have higher taxes but that is then reflected in what they receive back from the state. Ireland is take your money and you’ll be lucky to get the value back.
@Willy Mc Caul: worked with the plastic bags. Tax the shit out of it from manufacturer level onwards.
Is it just me but I continue to be impressed by Lidls outlook towards consumers , their employees and the Environment only if we could put them in charge of our Homeless crisis
@Johnny Mason: their seed pots encouraging people to GIY were fantastic this year. Hopefully they will be back again next year.
@Catherine Harris: Simply idea would to have VAT on single use wrap foodstuff(presently 0% vat)
Those single use packets of tomato ketchup/mustard/mayo that are in every pub and take away need to go too, so needlessly wasteful
Bring back glass bottles and jars
@Derek Hickey: not every pub. Hargadon’s in Sligo use glass bottles and jars for their sauces. Mayonnaise and mustard, if asked for, comes out in freshly filled ramekins.
These articles are a joke and purely propaganda. China itself produces more carbon emission than ALL of Europe (including Russia) and The US COMBINED. India produces more than all of Europe, again including Russia. Yet no one ever mentions this. Instead we are always told how we are destroying the environment and getting regulation after regulation, tax after tax. Climate change is a serious problem in the world but it is not being caused by Europeans/Americans. If you really want to be serious about it, the UN needs to start putting massive sanctions on China, India and countries that destroy their natural forests and rainforests like Brazil
@Rocky Stefan: Yeah, but China is where all our stuff is made, including the device you wrote that on and the one I used to reply.
@Rocky Stefan: This article is about single use plastics. Not carbon.
@Rocky Stefan: climate change is not caused by Europe/America? We have the highest carbon footprint per capita. And in the past 150 years who were the highest and biggest polluters in absolute and relative terms? It was Europe and America. Just because in absolute numbers we have been surpassed by far more populous countries like China and India, doesn’t mean we are excused!!!
@Rocky Stefan: Does it make sense to you that China produces more carbon emissions than US/EU/Russia combined because it has a larger population than all those regions combined ? As for India, again they have a larger population than the EU/Russia combined. Do you see the connection ? Do some simple calculations based around tonnes of carbon released ÷ the population of individual countries, and I suspect you’ll find that even Ireland is not very far behind the Chinese when it comes to emmisions.
@Rocky Stefan: we cant change other countries, we need to start here by not accepting plastics
I don’t mean to come across as sensationalist but…
Plastic, in all of its variations, while been one of the most incredible industrial discoveries, with an almost infinite number of applications, is one of the biggest threats to the future wellbeing of the human race – from a health, environmental and ecological perspective. It’s estimated to take 200-500 years to break down, but we don’t for sure yet. How big an issue will it be by the time future generations find out.
In 2016, c. 480 billion PET bottles were produced, in that year. This is forecast to rise to over 600 billion by 2021. This is the scale of the challenge, and that’s only one type of plastic, which IS recyclable. We shouldn’t fixate on straws, the issue is far, far greater. Much broader, urgent efforts are required.
@Mick Dougan: isocyanate residues from newly manufactured polyurethane plastics, foams, rubbers & fabrics are also a significant treat right now. Especially large amounts in polyurethane expanding foam used to insulate buildings. We suspect they are part of the reason for increases in inflammatory lead illnesses such as IBS, diabetes, some cardiovascular illnesses, anxiety & depression for a significant percentage of the population. Time will tell but it will be to late for many. Some plastics will have a reputation in the future like asbestos and far from the inert wonder material previously assumed.
@Chemical Brothers: *significant threat
@Chemical Brothers: I preferred it when they were a treat.
In the past year I’ve really started. I look at plastic like an enemy now.
It shouldn’t just be up to consumers. If we had a government adminstering the country, those producing and distributing plastics through shops could be penalised until they replaced their waste with paper, cardboard and other degradable materials. But that would be too sensible.
When I buy a litre of milk I don’t check its container.
I have been in Lidl stores a few times and I dont know if its me on this I dont get a supermarket feel when I walk into their store. Maybe its because I am used to Dunnes /Tesco’s. The layout of Lidl is different maybe this is the reason. Lidl look after their staff very well at the time their store was demolished in City West Tallaght they redeployed all of the staff to other stores and that is a big plus in my books.
@Scottyal: Production line ideology
Why do the European Commission have to wait until 2030 to ban single use plastic?
@Locojoe: industry
@Locojoe: that’s the hard limit date, it’s gives nations time to implement these laws into their own directives and to give manufacturers the time to find suitable alternatives and use existing stock in circulation. There’s an awful lot of single use plastic. Think sterile medical syringes, to chocolate wrappers or vacuum packed meat trays. Plastic keeps it airtight and fresh for longer or keeps things sterile. We will still have a lot of such products which need protecting for health and safety reasons and other existing laws. Finding cost efficient biodegradable plastics which meet their functional requirements takes time.
@Derek: Which all adds up to the fact that whether single use plastics are dealt with either through taxation or an outright ban, its not going to be cheap and the consumer will pick up the tab.
@Tommy Roche: and climate change doesn’t cost?
Manufacturers need to sort this problem aswell. 1 example of many. Was in Tesco snack food area came across a snack that was a plastic tray with compartments 1 with small cubed cheese. 1 with crutons and the other a sauce. Such a god awful waste to use on plastic. Punnets of fruit should be in compostable trays or balsa wood trays with perhaps a bottom lining of snap wrap atleast it would reduce the plastic.
I do see plastic differently now I notice the ridiculous needlessly wasteful plastic, saw streaky backon 70grms in a big plastic tray. We also need to stop buying a new phone every single year just cause apple samsung says you need to. Those phones use precious earth metals. Also even those frozen pizza boxes with a plastic window is a waste all these small waste.
Also make up girls wearing glitter make up washes it off goes down the sink most likely ends up in the ocean
I recommend shampoo bars to anyone who wants to cut down on plastic.
@Fifty Shades of Sé: is the rope biodegradable?
Stopped buying plastic disposable razors. Went retro to the traditional safety razor. The housing is mostly stainless steel and the blades are way cheaper and recyclable.
Problem is, the onus to recycle is on the customer, not the manufacturer. They keep providing us with goods in nothing but single use plastic. Why aren’t manufacturers forced to be more green? Instead of giving me six bins to seperate my waste into after I have washed it all,compressed it, and brought what they won’t take to the recycling centre in my own car. If they can do it with electric goods, why not everything else?
Has anyone spoken to the manufacturers yet?
It would help even more if companies could package their products better as well as ourselves recycling better. I certainly try to do my bit for the environment.
Yes no more plastic straws for us ever for a start but other changes also.
I’ve never seen or had a single use plastic straw. Any plastic straw I’ve had is reusable as I don’t chew on it or melt it…
@Aimoo: so you’ve NEVER used a straw in a restaurant or bar and you reuse ones used at home? Well done you.
I remember when I was a child we used to take bottles and jars to the recycling centre. This was the way to make some pocket money. Now sooo much waste. My green bin fills up first as the amount on packing in every product is just mad!
Its maddening, two courgettes in a plastic tray and wrapped in plastic also. same with a lot of vegtables and fruit. Why do they do this , you never see this abroad you just pick what u want and weigh.
@Loretta stiletto: For supermarkets, neat presentation and hygienic packaging of vegetables was a big seller. Carrots and parsnips had to be straight, turnips and onions properly rounded, nothing crooked or misshapen in any way.
Pre-packaging selected vegetables with plastic wrapping in hygienically-controlled centres of origin or distribution, ostensibly ensured customer eye-catching satisfaction and sales – but tonnes of misshapen vegetables and curved bananas were rejected by supermarket chains, though perfectly washable, cook-able and edible, all destroyed by growers unable to sell them (I saw a TV documentary about this unnecessary waste of misshapen fruit and vegetables forced on growers by supermarkets).
There were, undoubtedly, certain concerns about hygiene quality of loose vegetables and fruit in shops that led to this. Loose fruit and vegetables were picked up by hand by shoppers, chosen or thrown back into the baskets. You’d never know whose hands were hygienically unclean, in picking up loose vegetables and fruit, or throwing loose vegetables back in the basket for someone else to pick up.
There’s an easy way for supermarkets to get over their obsession with hygiene and plastic pre-packaging and sell perfectly good misshapen loose veggies… Use paper bags and install sanitary hand-wash squirts for customers throughout their stores, like in all hospitals now.
When you get your purchases home, wash them before cooking. Use paper bags and veggie skins to light your home fire. No waste.
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