Kenny gone as leader if Bruton withdraws his support: Times

[stonethrower]

Would you go on out of that. That intimation is straight out of the slow learners school of Political Science. FF have knifed more leaders than Brutus could throw a stick at. You don't see them out of power as a result of electorate dissatisfaction do you??

Well the only prolonged FF leadership struggle was during the Haughey period and it surely didn't help them in successive elections, probably cost FF overall majority in that period and eventually led to formation of PDs. However apart from Haughey, other leaders went quickly when it became apparent that the game was up. Of course being in Government has helped them avoid leadership challenges and perhaps FF are just more ruthless.

On the other hand no leader of FG since Fitzgerald has had total control of the party, Dukes, Bruton (Noonan, there too short a time) and Kenny have all faced criticism and heaves. Bruton survived at least one prior to 1995 Government and at least one after that, before being finally ousted. The problem for FG is that having been out of office so long, some people remain to be convinced they are up to it, seems mad given how badly FF have governed....but the divil you know...

A long drawn out saga of will Kenny survive or a divisive leadership battle will damage them immensely. Even if Kenny was challenged, and survives which is possible, will undermine him and FG. Given Kenny's stumbles of last few weeks, Lee couldn't have picked a worse time to go.

[corelli]

Pick up a factual history book rather than believing P.ie rumour

FF have had only 5 leaders since what 1966??

Lynch lead 13 years , resigned after terrible election results in Europe
Haughey another 13 years ( and try as the might the couldn't get rid of him...and even those schisms lead to FF's worst ever poll result up to that point)
Reynolds fell on his sword after the harr whelehan affair
Bertie could do no more than 3 election victories and was finished anyway brown paper bag or no brown paper bags (not that any of them ever go quietly)

aye a bloodbath 5 leaders in 40 years

Are you seriously suggesting that Haughey, Reynolds and Bertie were not quietly knifed??

[cyberianpan]

The Lee affair is a significant unpleasantness for FG

Ditching Enda would also be an unpleasantness

Either they do "two-for-one" while the price is good... or stick with Kenny until 2012.

Richard Bruton has a good pretext... time to find out if he really wants the job

cYp

[Congalltee]

Cowen's flawed pedigree was that he allowed a wounded Ahern continue beyond the point of no return. We have now reached that point with Kenny. If is not corrupt like Ahern, but he is as incompetent and lacks the charm. Dead man walking or else Fine Gael is a a dead party walking into their 7th straight election defeat.

[Pauli]

Would you go on out of that. That intimation is straight out of the slow learners school of Political Science. FF have knifed more leaders than Brutus could throw a stick at. You don't see them out of power as a result of electorate dissatisfaction do you??

I disagree. FF show remarkable loyalty to their leaders, no matter how criminal, no matter how corrupt, no matter how lousy it may be for the country to have a criminal, corrupt Taoiseach. Remarkable loyalty.

[jmcc]

Thought it was interesting that Varadkar failed on Frontline to endorse Kenny, in fact he explicitly stated "its been a bad day for Enda Kenny" and "Yes, there have been mutterings".....this is a crucial few weeks for Kenny...

In Kremlinology terms, anything other than a resounding endorsement for Kenny is extremely dangerous and points to some background activity. It remains to be seen if any FGers have the guts to remove Kenny as quickly as possible. If they don't then this is going to potentially split FG into a number of groups. At best, FG will become factionalised and this will continue until Kenny loses another GE. At worst some FGers who are not satisfied with the useless gombeens getting positions based on time served rather than merit will split to form a new party. Perhaps this might be a good time for something like term limits in Irish politics.

Regards...jmcc

[stewiegriffin]

I dunno . Varadkers spineless performance is de riguer in Irish politics lately . ' We're not good , but we're not being fed through a tube ' seems to be the political mantra 'de jouer' .

[jmcc]

I dunno . Varadkers spineless performance is de riguer in Irish politics lately .

I still think that Varadker's performance owes more to the situation being in flux. He was careful not to make any firm comment about Enda Kenny's future other than the usual platitudes. Perhaps Varadker, Deasy and another are going to be the focus points for FGers over the next few days. Somer of the lesser FGers will have problems trying to choose factions. There will be serious pressure from the the Enda Kenny faction and his handlers but this is the kind of galvanising event that will have a lot of the younger FGers sharpening their knives in anticipation of a coup. Things should be somewhat clearer over the next few days - perhaps by Thursday.

Regards...jmcc

[Toland]

The Lee affair is a significant unpleasantness for FG

Ditching Enda would also be an unpleasantness

Either they do "two-for-one" while the price is good... or stick with Kenny until 2012.

Richard Bruton has a good pretext... time to find out if he really wants the job

cYp

That makes sense.

I would hope (for FG's sake) Kenny goes today.

Would Richard be the person to get the job, even if he wants it.

[stewiegriffin]

Whoever the new leader is , he has a lot of work to do . Reining in maverick nazi councilors for a start . How can FG be taken seriously when senior elected figures call for the deportation of Poles and Czechs ?