Enda Kenny on Saturday Night With Miriam

Liam Byrne

Denerick wrote: »

I'm sure he is a nice man, but he doesn't inspire me in any way in terms of intellect or charisma. It'd be great if he at least had the former, but without the latter you are dead in politics.

We haven't had a taoiseach who's been inspiring, or had intellect or charisma, in years......why is it suddenly a requirement now ?

At this stage I'd gladly settle for one with just ethics and some intellect.

Denerick

Liam Byrne wrote: »

We haven't had a taoiseach who's been inspiring, or had intellect or charisma, in years......why is it suddenly a requirement now ?

At this stage I'd gladly settle for one with just ethics and some intellect.

Bertie had charisma and intellect but wasn't a nice guy. Cowen has intellect without charisma. Whatever you think about FF, don't flippantly disregard that.

Liam Byrne

Denerick wrote: »

Bertie had charisma and intellect but wasn't a nice guy.

Ahern implemented upward-only benchmarking; he wrote blank cheques for Haughey from a charity fund; he investigated Ray Burke up every tree, and appointed Callely to the Seanad......I'll let people judge the "intellect" involved in all of those for themselves.

And the problem with "charisma" is that it's a matter of opinion. Ahern had no charisma in my book, and I can stand over that with zero "flippancy".

Maybe I'm different to a lot of people, but I'd view people like Shane Ross as charismatic, because he's earned my respect.

Denerick wrote: »

Cowen has intellect without charisma.

This would be the same Cowen that was castigated by the banking report for making a complete balls of the boom ? He may well have some intellect, but he doesn't use it correctly* in his job, so I have no proof that he had it.

* Some might view refusing to hold by-elections as "intelligent", given that Cowen's aim is to stay in power

Denerick wrote: »

Whatever you think about FF, don't flippantly disregard that.

I'm not "flippantly disregarding" anything; I'm stating it as I see it, having examined the track record of both.

Apologies if I'm the individual shouting "the emperor has no clothes" in relation to Ahern.

Bear in mind that's not a "change of mind after the fact", either : the Drumcondra Mafia and Haughey's "most cunning and devious.." statement, and Ahern writing blank cheques were all around long before it was "populist" to dislike Ahern, so this isn't a recent stance of mine.

Carol25

How is a clearly biased FF interviewer allowed to interview one of the main party leaders on television like this? Bertie was welcomed with open arms on this show, with Enda there was no light-hearted banter. Enda wasn't given a chance to get some 'charisma' and character across because Miriam just harped on with the same question for the whole interview about his leadership. Absolute disgrace. And the Irish people are even more so because they buy it! Bertie was a poor speaker, all he had was the 'guy next door' persona. People seem very willing to criticise Enda. I think Cowen is an absolute wreck of a leader, with a party of idiots (except perhaps Brian Lenihan) who wasn't even voted in as taoiseach! They led the country to ruin, yet Miriam questions Enda's qualifications? What about Bertie's or Cowen's? I have to say I'm ashamed of Cowen as our leader and representative abroad. Give me Enda anyday

flutered

watching kenny speak is like watching wood warp or paint dry,
at a leaders meeting in brussels or where ever how would he come across,
i an anti f.f. but this man does not inspire me, f.f. were on the ropes more often than a punch drunk boxer, kenny lacked the verbal know how or maby the mindset to but them away,
his body language ? enough said.

pog it

nesf wrote: »

Who else is there though? FF? Lab? I mean, I'm fairly happy with how FF dealt with the fiscal situation but I do feel it's time for a change of the guard. Labour I just can't stand really, too populist, too weak on fiscal/economic issues. I could vote Green but I'm not an environmentalist and don't feel drawn to their policies. SF and me just don't get along on policy, they're about as far as you can get from me on economic issues and stay in the mainstream of politics.

So, eh, either I don't vote at all (which feels wrong) or I vote FG.

Fine Gael are by far the more populist of all the parties.

FF have set the spin out there that Labour are populist and without policies. They're scared ****less of Labour.

Don't believe their spin. If you need to know anything about Labour's policies, all you need to do is ask them. They will send you on their policy documents.

Bersouth

supersean1999 wrote: »

would he be more popular,

It wouldnt matter what accent the poor man has, He just hasent got the charisma....

TP4725

flutered wrote: »

watching kenny speak is like watching wood warp or paint dry,
at a leaders meeting in brussels or where ever how would he come acrossa,
i an anti f.f. but this man does not inspire me, f.f. were on the ropes more often than a punch drunk boxer, kenny lacked the verbal know how or maby the mindset to but them away,
his body language ? enough said.

Enda Kenny is actually one of the Vice-Presidents of the European People's Party, having being elected to that position by political colleagues from across Europe so clearly he has already made a good impression on political leaders in Brussels and elsewhere.

http://www.epp.eu/party.asp?z=5E5D

The_Minister

pog it wrote: »

Fine Gael are by far the more populist of all the parties.

FF have set the spin out there that Labour are populist and without policies. They're scared ****less of Labour.

Don't believe their spin. If you need to know anything about Labour's policies, all you need to do is ask them. They will send you on their policy documents.

When people complain about the lack of Labour policies they are referring to a lack of 'hard' policies.

They have a ton of waffley 'soft' policies (which are of course valid in their own way, and very important), but on the economy and the public service, the two biggest issues of the day, their policies are dribbling waffle which are purposefully light on detail.

There are some things, like the economy, that you have to nail your colours to the mast over - Labour haven't.
They waffle on about job-creation, and not bailing out the banks, but make absolutely sure that they never put forward a policy in sufficient detail that could possibly be offensive to any sector of society.

The simple fact is that people have looked at the few details that Labour have given out so far, have done the maths, and found huge gaps.

Denerick

Carol25 wrote: »

How is a clearly biased FF interviewer allowed to interview one of the main party leaders on television like this? Bertie was welcomed with open arms on this show, with Enda there was no light-hearted banter. Enda wasn't given a chance to get some 'charisma' and character across because Miriam just harped on with the same question for the whole interview about his leadership. Absolute disgrace. And the Irish people are even more so because they buy it! Bertie was a poor speaker, all he had was the 'guy next door' persona. People seem very willing to criticise Enda. I think Cowen is an absolute wreck of a leader, with a party of idiots (except perhaps Brian Lenihan) who wasn't even voted in as taoiseach! They led the country to ruin, yet Miriam questions Enda's qualifications? What about Bertie's or Cowen's? I have to say I'm ashamed of Cowen as our leader and representative abroad. Give me Enda anyday

I don't understand your reasoning. Miriam interviewed Enda in the wake of a catastrophic challenge to his authority, when he narrowly escaped a coup... What was she going to talk about, what he makes of this bad weather we're having?

She was interviewing ENDA. Not Brian or Bertie. For Christs sake, I really wish the Fine Gaelers would learn some sense of proportion and stop abstracting everything back 'to those FF bastards who ruined this country byjesus'...

Liam Byrne

Denerick wrote: »

I don't understand your reasoning. Miriam interviewed Enda in the wake of a catastrophic challenge to his authority, when he narrowly escaped a coup... What was she going to talk about, what he makes of this bad weather we're having?

She was interviewing ENDA. Not Brian or Bertie. For Christs sake, I really wish the Fine Gaelers would learn some sense of proportion and stop abstracting everything back 'to those FF bastards who ruined this country byjesus'...

I presume Carol was comparing / contrasting Miriam's interview of Enda with the fiasco of an interview that she did with Cowen.

supersean1999

Liam Byrne wrote: »

I presume Carol was comparing / contrasting Miriam's interview of Enda with the fiasco of an interview that she did with Cowen.

exactly

Aidric

Denerick wrote: »

She was interviewing ENDA. Not Brian or Bertie. For Christs sake, I really wish the Fine Gaelers would learn some sense of proportion and stop abstracting everything back 'to those FF bastards who ruined this country byjesus'...

Well said. No matter what the thread some posters take it upon themselves to launch an attack on FF, one in particular.

annie19

Denerick wrote: »

I always have my head in my hands any time Enda is speaking. Did anyone notice the queasy smirks he would come out with, the bad jokes about oxegen, the 'aww shucks dad' comments about his son, his completely blank persona that screams 'dead wood'?

I'm sure he is a nice man, but he doesn't inspire me in any way in terms of intellect or charisma. It'd be great if he at least had the former, but without the latter you are dead in politics.

i couldn't have said it better my self!

Wide Road

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Agreed. It's only a few minutes since it finished, and I watched it all -- and I can't remember anything he said.

Again, a brilliant post. Nobody really replied to it for some strange reason. Maybe because it's true, and that's even after viewing the repeat programme.

MrDarcy

It was cringeworthy to watch. he seemed to have a lot to say about considering himself to be "a real leader". The one thing about this country and Kenny is indicitive of this, is that everyone wants to be a leader or a manager but nobody wants to do the work or the heavy lifting. Kenny thinks because he saw off a recent challenge to his leadership that he is now fit or able to run the country, it's laughable only that the stakes are so high, this from the man who wanted to compensate everyone from rip off taxi drivers to Eircom shareholders only a few years back and was running around with a worthless "contract" on the last occasion.

To be honest he looked like someone who was on Dragon's Den, clueless, inexperienced, confused, uncertain and bluffing.

The big winners next time round will be Labour, not that I'd be voting for any of them...

angeleyes

I only saw some of the interview with Mr. Kenny and I thought Miriam O'Callaghan was totally unprofessional. Its meant to be light entertainment - and she was nothing short of a bully - asking the same questions and not letting Enda Kenny answer them. Her FF bias is obvious.

I also feel that too many are getting hung up on a Taoiseach having charisma. Charlie Haughey was meant to have it as is supposedly Bertie Ahern and look ath the mess they made of things and history will not be kind to them.

I think Mr. Kenny wants to be Taoiseach and is prepared to work hard - who cares if he has charisma growing out of his ears as long as he is going to sort out the mess. He has a good team around him - competent and experienced people.

maynooth_rules

Why is charisma always discussed with Kenny. When it became quite clear that Biffo would be taking over from B. Ahern, I don't remember people questioning his lack of charisma. I wish people would remember that they are voting for a party and their policies, not just on a leader and whether he has bloody charisma

angeleyes

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Why is charisma always discussed with Kenny. When it became quite clear that Biffo would be taking over from B. Ahern, I don't remember people questioning his lack of charisma. I wish people would remember that they are voting for a party and their policies, not just on a leader and whether he has bloody charisma

Exactly

The_Minister

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Why is charisma always discussed with Kenny. When it became quite clear that Biffo would be taking over from B. Ahern, I don't remember people questioning his lack of charisma. I wish people would remember that they are voting for a party and their policies, not just on a leader and whether he has bloody charisma

Bertie Ahern is very charismatic.

The fact that he managed to sink the country is irrelevant - he is still charismatic.

Liam Byrne

The_Minister wrote: »

Bertie Ahern is very charismatic.

The fact that he managed to sink the country is irrelevant - he is still charismatic.

As I said earlier, I don't agree. So "charisma" is obviously subjective.

oscarBravo

Pretty sure I've said it before, but Enda is a very charismatic man when you meet him in person. He comes across as warm and genuine.

I've met Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen as well, quite a while ago and in different circumstances. Bertie has a certain amount of personal magnetism, but not nearly as much as Enda (in my experience). Brian had a few pints on him when I met him...

It's unfortunate that Enda's character doesn't come across as well on TV as in person, but it's even more unfortunate that that is anything other than a minor side issue.

The_Minister

oscarBravo wrote: »

Pretty sure I've said it before, but Enda is a very charismatic man when you meet him in person. He comes across as warm and genuine.

I've met Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen as well, quite a while ago and in different circumstances. Bertie has a certain amount of personal magnetism, but not nearly as much as Enda (in my experience). Brian had a few pints on him when I met him...

It's unfortunate that Enda's character doesn't come across as well on TV as in person, but it's even more unfortunate that that is anything other than a minor side issue.

Kenny is amazing on the one-to-one, I don't think I've ever seen such a skillful operator. I felt like I should be taking notes

Tbh, though, while I would like our politicians to care more about policies, it is important for our leader to be charismatic and able to lead the country.

pog it

The_Minister wrote: »

Kenny is amazing on the one-to-one, I don't think I've ever seen such a skillful operator. I felt like I should be taking notes

Tbh, though, while I would like our politicians to care more about policies, it is important for our leader to be charismatic and able to lead the country.

Agreed- on both points. Kenny is different in person, he's actually impressive face to face. But no way can I support FG any longer. Eamon Gilmore is the man for this country, in terms of intellect, leadership... and he has the all important charisma.

If people are commenting on Enda it's because more is expected of him, since he is the leader of FG, which used to always be the biggest opposition party. But honestly, he is weak, and that is why people are criticising him. And rightly so. We deserve better.

P. Breathnach

The_Minister wrote: »

Kenny is amazing on the one-to-one, I don't think I've ever seen such a skillful operator. I felt like I should be taking notes

But what is the skill?

I mean the question as a serious one, albeit expressed as rhetorical one. Many politicians have developed a skill for dealing with people which is nothing more than a performance for the punters.

I think that I have fairly good antennae, and know when a politician is taking what I say on board (not very often) or simply faking an interest in an effort to have a good encounter with me as a potential voter or supporter.

One of my minor entertainments is watching politicians working the room.

maynooth_rules

The_Minister wrote: »

Bertie Ahern is very charismatic.

The fact that he managed to sink the country is irrelevant - he is still charismatic.

I am not denying he had charisma (however this should not cloud his many many faults), but I was trying to say when it was apparent to everyone that Bertie was stepping down, and that Biffo would be becoming our unelected Taoiseach, nobody questioned his complete and utter lack of charisma. Its seems to be something that is constantly used to attack Kenny. Charisma is not that bloody important. Some of the best politicians in History had zero charisma. You are not buying a car off the person, you are depending on them to run the country. Charisma should be quite down in the important traits

Gravy Fanatic

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Why is charisma always discussed with Kenny. When it became quite clear that Biffo would be taking over from B. Ahern, I don't remember people questioning his lack of charisma. I wish people would remember that they are voting for a party and their policies, not just on a leader and whether he has bloody charisma

Sure I think the public has just been misunderstanding Brian, he has as much charisma as anybody, he just has struggled to show it yet. But thats what good about a fella like Brian, hes also practical and focuses on policies. He is been unfairly blamed for the recession, and this kind of thing isnt right because one man can only do so much. We didnt elect superman after all.

Wide Road

oscarBravo wrote: »

Pretty sure I've said it before, but Enda is a very charismatic man when you meet him in person. He comes across as warm and genuine.

I've met Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen as well, quite a while ago and in different circumstances. Bertie has a certain amount of personal magnetism, but not nearly as much as Enda (in my experience). Brian had a few pints on him when I met him...

It's unfortunate that Enda's character doesn't come across as well on TV as in person, but it's even more unfortunate that that is anything other than a minor side issue.

Oscar, judging by your post I would wonder who had a few pints in them?

jpfahy

Gravy Fanatic wrote: »

Sure I think the public has just been misunderstanding Brian, he has as much charisma as anybody, he just has struggled to show it yet. But thats what good about a fella like Brian, hes also practical and focuses on policies. He is been unfairly blamed for the recession, and this kind of thing isnt right because one man can only do so much. We didnt elect superman after all.

Why unfairly????? Was he not the minister for finance when the bubble was building and did nothing to defuse it?

Wide Road

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Some of the best politicians in History had zero charisma. traits

God bless us if you are now comparing Enda to "Some of the best politicians in History". A couple of weeks ago poor Enda was under severe pressure from his own comrades with some disregarding their party oath in order to get rid of him. Get a grip.