Who said Kenny has to be Taoiseach ?

[Right is right]

To be honest it seems that most people who don't rate him think he is supposed to be a great personality like Bertie/Haughey etc or have a great way with words or supposedly have great knowledge of everything.

When will people live in the real world and understand the most important part of his job will be to ensure that his ministers run their briefs properly ideally without much input from him and his job is to oversee them.

Remember everyone said that Cowan would be a great Taoiseach and look how he has performed?? Everyone viewed Bertie as a lightweight who would never make a good Taoiseach and look what happened there.

An ideal chairman who ensures the specialists do their job

[Sync]

They've voted. When things were going badly the TDs voted for him.

Do you seriously think that after the next election with the gains they're expected to get, that the victorious party, filled with new TDs are just in the door are going to vote to get rid of Kenny? At the behest of a party who really don't have much choice on who they go to bed with?

[Baron von Biffo]

Exactly. FG will (Barring utter disaster) be the largest party in the next Dail. Their members have voted for Kenny to lead them into that Dail. Any future decision they make won't be down to Labour's input. Labour have precious few options. Go in with FG and an FG leader, stay out, or go in with FF and get decimated at the next election.

If FG approach Lab with that sort of take it or leave it attitude then the notoriously tetchy Lab might just decide to leave it.

I don't share your expectation that FG will be the largest party after the GE but if they are, or even if they come in a very good second, all the pressure will be on FG. If the electorate gives them a big mandate and they blow it through arrogance then they're screwed for another generation.

[Baron von Biffo]

When will people live in the real world and understand the most important part of his job will be to ensure that his ministers run their briefs properly ideally without much input from him and his job is to oversee them.

A man who can't oversee an opposition front bench doesn't inspire great confidence as a potential Taoiseach.

[Sync]

Haha that's not how it'll work and you know it. If FG are the biggest party and Labour decide for whatever reason under the sun to go in with FF they'll end up like the PDs and Greens did. No one will forgive the party that goes in with FF next time.

[EvotingMachine0197]

They've voted. When things were going badly the TDs voted for him.

Do you seriously think that after the next election with the gains they're expected to get, that the victorious party, filled with new TDs are just in the door are going to vote to get rid of Kenny? At the behest of a party who really don't have much choice on who they go to bed with?

Yes Sync, I know they voted for him. But not very enthusiastically.

Unless FG get an overall majority, my question is valid.

More than likely FG will be the majority party in a coalition after the next GE.

They will need the support of another party in the order of business to elect an FG Taoiseach.

I'm just proposing that it's not cut and dried.

[RahenyFG]

I've nothing against Kenny. I just don't want him to be Taoiseach.

Unfortunately we don't get a direct vote for Taoiseach, only TDs do. So some of the electorate may reasonably vote based on this.



Well, he wouldn't step aside of his own accord, what I'm saying is that he might be asked to.

Nobody is entitled to be Taoiseach. Although some of the FF lads think they are ...

And why don't you want him to be Taoiseach? simply because of his wooden interviews and his Mayo background. Personality politics playing it's part.

Who knows who may get elected in a directly elected Taoiseach election. No one would re-elect Cowen, Gilmore's satisfaction rating is going down while Kenny's is going up, so who really knows.

Kenny isn't a bad person. What you see as a person doesn't do justice what he may do as a Taoiseach.

[Right is right]

If FG approach Lab with that sort of take it or leave it attitude then the notoriously tetchy Lab might just decide to leave it.

I don't share your expectation that FG will be the largest party after the GE but if they are, or even if they come in a very good second, all the pressure will be on FG. If the electorate gives them a big mandate and they blow it through arrogance then they're screwed for another generation.

You mean if they come through with the largest vote and with the most seats in the Dail (with Kenny as leader) you think that people will approve Labour demanding his head???

[RahenyFG]

Can a moderator please get rid of this thread. It's pointless.

[Baron von Biffo]

Haha that's not how it'll work and you know it. If FG are the biggest party and Labour decide for whatever reason under the sun to go in with FF they'll end up like the PDs and Greens did. No one will forgive the party that goes in with FF next time.

That's certainly a popular viewpoint but it's not an immutable law of nature. As I've pointed out many times here before, the demise of the PDs and the Greens was for reasons other than coalition with FF.

But that said, FF isn't the only option Lab will have. They can offer conditional support for a minority FG government or they can say that there isn't enough common ground to form a government with either of the bigger parties.

The next Dail is Kenny's last chance, it will see him as Taoiseach or toast. If he blows it, particularly if he gets a significant seat boost, he's finished and he'll bring FG down with him.