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Enda Kenny RollingNews.ie

'He gave me a blessing as well when he was at it' - Kenny in joking form over leadership challenge

Several ministers, including Harris, refused to rule themselves out of the expected contest.

Updated 10.15pm

AN TAOISEACH ENDA Kenny was in joking form this earlier this evening about the challenge facing him in the days ahead over his leadership of Fine Gael.

Addressing the crowd at an event in Balla, Co Mayo – his home country – Kenny joked about the serious challenges he faces as pressure mounts for him to announce when he will step down as leader of Fine Gael.

“Fr Denis blessed the place there today,” Kenny told the crowd, as opened the Balla Community Woodlands project.

“A very ecumenical blessing. He gave me a blessing as well when he was at it,” the Taoiseach said to laughs from the crowd and applause.

As you know I did plant an oak tree. There with a lovely spade and good soil, and to plant a tree you have to dig a hole and I said this is for the tree and not for me okay.

Kenny refused to answer any further questions about his leadership ahead of his addressing a Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday, where he is expected the lay out his timeline for stepping down as leader of the party.

Earlier, Health Minister Simon Harris took a sideswipe at the sense of humour of one of his Cabinet colleagues as he answered questions about the expected Fine Gael leadership battle.

It followed the leaking of an internal Whatsapp conversation between Fine Gael members. Details published yesterday in the Irish Times showed Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan suggest that Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald was urging Health Minister Simon Harris to enter the leadership contest.

Fine Gael TD Pat Breen made the comment “Your man is doing well” to which Flanagan answered: “Thanks. He hasn’t announced yet but Frances is encouraging him. He wants out of Health”.

In a tweet yesterday Harris said he wasn’t going to indulge in idle speculation about the leadership, while, speaking earlier, Flanagan described his comment in the group as jovial Sunday afternoon banter.

Speaking to RTÉ at an event today, Harris said:

My colleague Charlie Flanagan has many, many fine attributes – he’s a great colleague of mine but telling funny jokes on a Sunday afternoon is clearly not one of them.

However, he refused to say if he would be putting his name forward for the leadership contest, telling reporters that if and when a vacancy arose he would consider his position.

Harris is not the only minister to refuse to rule out entering the race today. Education Minister Richard Bruton, who led an ill-fated heave against Kenny in 2010, was also asked by reporters about his intentions.

He would only say that he believed we were at a time when there was a “significant threat to Ireland” and noted the “serious challenges” that were being posed, without directly answering the question about the leadership.

Elsewhere, Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said she’d wait for Enda Kenny to declare his plans before declaring her position on a leadership bid.

Speaking in Brussels today, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said that he expected Kenny to lay out the timeline for his departure when he addresses the party on Wednesday.

Space

The Taoiseach has been under increasing pressure since last week when members of his own party amplified their calls for him to set out a timeline for his retirement.

The speculation was heightened yesterday as the contents of the Whatsapp group became public knowledge.

Kenny said in advance of last year’s general election that he wouldn’t lead his party into a subsequent election and pressure on his position grew in the wake of a poor Dáil performance, as the country reeled from the latest Garda whistleblower revelations.

Housing Minister Simon Coveney said yesterday that Kenny deserves space to make his decision. That’s despite Coveney and Leo Varadkar last week saying the party needs to be on an election footing.

Speaking on RTÉ’s the Week in Politics, Coveney said that he feels Kenny should be given the space to make his own decision.

In my view we should trust the Taoiseach with this. My view is that we should trust the Taoiseach to go to Washington, but I expect that the leadership within Fine Gael and ultimately within the country and the issues around that will be dealt with very, very quickly after that.

Coveney added that the transition to a new leader within Fine Gael “needs to be done relatively soon” but declined to be more specific than that.

public opinion poll released yesterday morning showed that support for Fine Gael is dropping and a large majority of people are unhappy with Kenny’s leadership of the country.

Additional reporting Christina Finn, Daragh Brophy and Cormac Fitzgerald

Read: ‘Distracting and destabilising’: Leo Varadkar says ‘everyone is waiting’ on a decision from Enda >

Read: How does Fine Gael go about electing a new leader? >

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96 Comments
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    Mute alphanautica
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    May 8th 2017, 7:45 AM

    Le Pen may have lost, but % support is increasing dramatically. Just like Sinn Fein, it is only a matter of time.

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    Mute Barry Somers
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    May 8th 2017, 7:51 AM

    @alphanautica: of course the partys are not alike, le pens party is full of racists, shes tried to change its image but the mask keeps slipping.

    51
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    Mute Nick Allen
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    May 8th 2017, 7:55 AM

    @alphanautica:

    Its cyclical and they will lose support over time, look at UKIP in the local elections, completely destroyed

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    Mute alphanautica
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    May 8th 2017, 7:56 AM

    @Barry Somers: both parties do their best to distance themselves from their extreme xenophobic genesis, so they’re not that different. Thankfully the ‘Brits Out’ etc days are over.

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    Mute Willy Malone
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    May 8th 2017, 8:36 AM

    @alphanautica: Our elite congratulations all round , for a man who sees Ireland as a problem . Our corporate tax a major issue for his elitist Europe . Anything to keep elitist Europe in motion. Winds if change growing stronger as you say, only a matter of time ☺

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    Mute TehJurolan
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    May 8th 2017, 9:40 AM

    @Nick Allen: yes, but only after they had played a prominent part in achieving their goal of taking Britain out of the EU.

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    Mute Ryan Comiskey
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    May 8th 2017, 9:57 AM

    @alphanautica:
    Brexit 52-48: “Clear, decisive victory.”
    Trump 46-48: “The people have spoken.”
    Macron 66-34: “OMG France is so divided.”

    34
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    Mute GameOverMan
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    May 8th 2017, 10:13 AM

    @Willy Malone: of course its only a matter of time. And when they’re in, it’ll be a matter of time before they’re out again. The systems not supposed to resolve anything… it has only to be maintained for maximum profit.

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    Mute Diarmuid
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    May 8th 2017, 10:31 AM

    @alphanautica: There are enough decent grown-ups in France and Ireland to keep know-nothing extremists out forever.

    18
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    Mute Mick Jordan
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    May 8th 2017, 12:59 PM

    @alphanautica: Before making any claims of FN support on the rise you should wait and see the results of the French Parliamentary Elections next month. In 1985 they reached a high watermark of 35 MP’s in the current Parliment they have 2 MP’s. If they can match or better their 1985 total then you could say they are on the rise. If they can’t, well it’s just a case of going nowhere.

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    Mute Patricia Cooney
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    May 8th 2017, 4:54 PM

    @Barry Somers: if their is no work and la pen wants to close borders you are racist.what next.

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    Mute Joshua Walsh
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    May 8th 2017, 7:59 AM

    Great to see the French people reject the hate that Le Pen spout.

    94
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    Mute cortisola
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    May 8th 2017, 11:43 AM

    @Joshua Walsh: There will be less and less support for her every year with growing Muslim population in France. She may never win.

    12
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    Mute Mick Jordan
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    May 8th 2017, 1:02 PM

    @cortisola: She has to survive the Parliamentary elections. If the FN don’t do better than her Father did in 85 with 35 seats the party will turn on her.

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    Mute
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    May 8th 2017, 8:19 AM

    God help France now with this political lightweight and apologist for Islamic terror in power.

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    Mute Diarmuid
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    May 8th 2017, 11:35 AM

    From an apologist for “republican” terror….

    Hypocrisy much?

    16
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    Mute Mick Jordan
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    May 8th 2017, 1:08 PM

    And what makes him a political lightweight? Coming out of nowhere and winning the Presidency from experienced and seasoned Politicians puts him right up in the Heavy Weight division as champion. And if you think he is a lightweight because of his lack of political experience then what does that make Trump a Bantamweight?

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    Mute George Orwell
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    May 8th 2017, 7:50 AM

    His wife gave him a well deserved pat on the head

    73
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    Mute The Thinker
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    May 8th 2017, 9:55 AM

    Glad to see France isn’t as easily led as the US and UK. There’s some hope yet

    30
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    Mute Diarmuid
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    May 8th 2017, 10:33 AM

    Fabulous day for France and Europe.

    The fascist wave is dying across Europe, just like it did in 1945.

    28
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    Mute cortisola
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    May 8th 2017, 11:46 AM

    @Diarmuid: You’re are like these lunatics dancing end of islamic terror after US killed Binladen in 2011. You’ll never get it.

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    Mute Lisa Dorothy
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    May 8th 2017, 3:14 PM

    @cortisola: Get what? That we have to think of it like it is us versus them? Because where has that attitude got us so far?

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    Mute No one
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    May 8th 2017, 7:33 AM

    I guess the French must be misogynist ??

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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    May 8th 2017, 7:50 AM

    @No one: no they’re just less racist.

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    Mute GameOverMan
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    May 8th 2017, 10:20 AM

    @Deborah Behan: …speaking of racists theres Geert doing his best impression of every defeated cartoon villain ever… well done Geert, well done.

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    Mute David Harries
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    May 8th 2017, 8:59 AM

    I wounder could trump find France on a map

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    Mute Ó Connmhaigh
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    May 8th 2017, 11:42 AM

    @David Harries:
    First, he’d have to find a map

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    Mute Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh
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    May 8th 2017, 9:07 AM

    Donald trump may actually have prevented Le Pen grabbing power, People have discovered that voting is racist nutters actually offers no solutions either.

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    Mute Lisa Dorothy
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    May 8th 2017, 3:13 PM

    @Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh: And that is it in essence. Without an overhaul of the system nothing will significantly change no matter who you vote in. So people don’t fall for populist politicians like Trump – they will achieve as much or less than their establishment counterparts.

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    Mute Plus Prom
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    May 8th 2017, 10:32 AM

    I can’t believe all these so-called liberals celebrating the perpetuation of the patriarchy. I guess France wasn’t ready for a female leader. Sad. #ImWithHer

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    Mute Ernest Grinkas
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    May 8th 2017, 11:24 AM

    @Plus Prom: Agree. Complete sexism. Very disappointed by french sexism..

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    Mute Aaron O'Leary
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    May 8th 2017, 1:21 PM

    @Plus Prom: So the US was sexist to elect Trump?

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    Mute Lisa Dorothy
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    May 8th 2017, 3:15 PM

    @Aaron O’Leary: That’s what I was wondering.

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    Mute cortisola
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    May 8th 2017, 11:47 AM

    Most of these congrats should be sent to Merkel really.

    13
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    Mute Yenreit
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    May 8th 2017, 12:16 PM

    @cortisola: Germany’s third invasion of France! Will they ever learn.

    11
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    Mute cortisola
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    May 8th 2017, 1:47 PM

    @Yenreit: Soon all they need to learn will be Arabic and Quaran.

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    Mute Ibhar Mac Suibhne
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    May 8th 2017, 2:57 PM

    @cortisola: Hype up the anti-islam propaganda there sure!

    2
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    Mute Philip Gerard
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    May 8th 2017, 4:37 PM

    @cortisola: Betterh than sending congrats to Putin, fascist tw@.

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    Mute Tosin Williams
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    May 8th 2017, 8:46 PM

    @cortisola: what language is quaran?

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    Mute Toon Army
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    May 8th 2017, 7:46 AM

    Interesting to see how Macron balances his overall centre right ideology with some watered down policies on education and EU reform. Suspect it will be the latter that takes a back seat but wish him all the best.

    11
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    Mute Nick Allen
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    May 8th 2017, 8:33 AM

    @Toon Army:

    But more importantly, will Rafa be in charge come Aug. Well done yesterday

    8
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    Mute Gerry Fallon
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    May 8th 2017, 9:54 AM

    Theresa may congratulated him through gritted teeth.

    8
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    Mute Paul Coughlan
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    May 8th 2017, 9:01 AM

    We now have a 39 year old French President married to a 63 year old woman. Merkel would need to watch out. We should replace Enda with an Edna and we would be sure of a listening ear in France. ❤️❤️

    7
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    Mute Larry Molloy
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    May 9th 2017, 11:48 AM

    The deep state are really nice people once you get to know them.

    1
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    Mute Micheal S. O' Ceilleachair
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    May 8th 2017, 8:03 PM

    We will have five years of macronomics!!!!

    1
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