The Enda Kenny Thread

Devil08

Im interested in hearing from people as to why this man should not become the next Taoiseach of this country. I havnt heard any good reasons so far.

The reasons ive heard so far are outlandish if anything. Some of them include he has no charisma, he has no charm, he is not a good debater, and he is not in touch with modern social media!!! Are these the traits of our next Taoiseach that are really worrying people?

I will be supporting him for some very basic reasons.

1. He will never turn up for an interview still p!ssed out of his mind from the night before
2. He will not rob this country blind through claiming expenses, taking back handers, and any other ways he can find
3. He is passionate and has worked very very hard to get this chance .
4. Fianna Fail have taken nurses off the wards, Gardai off the streets, and Teachers out of schools. Simple requirements needed in any country. They have killed this country's public front line services and the public have suffered. Enda Kenny is the only prospective Taoiseach looking to increase these front line services.

The country will continue to suffer under anybody else.

syklops

I was beginning to think I was the only one left on the face of the planet who likes him. I don't understand this "no charisma" argument at all. I don't get it.

Tragedy

Devil08 wrote: »

Im interested in hearing from people as to why this man should not become the next Taoiseach of this country. Im havnt heard any good reasons so far.

The reasons ive heard so far are outlandish if anything. Some of them include he has no charisma, he has no charm, he is not a good debater, and he is not in touch with modern social media!!! Are these the traits of our next Taoiseach that are really worrying people?

I will be supporting him for some very basic reasons.

1. He will never turn up for an interview still p!ssed out of his mind from the night before
2. He will not rob this country blind through claiming expenses, taking back handers, and any other ways he can find
3. He is passionate and has worked very very hard to get this chance .
4. Fianna Fail have taken nurses off the wards, Gardai off the streets, and Teachers out of schools. Simple requirements needed in any country. They have killed this country's public front line services and the public have suffered. Enda Kenny is the only prospective Taoiseach looking to increase these front line services.

The country will continue to suffer under anybody else.

Those 4 points could sum up the vast majority of politicians.

Devil08

Tragedy wrote: »

Those 4 points could sum up the vast majority of politicians.

I disagree. So many of them are corrupt. Im talking about our next Taoiseach though and not just politicians. I believe Enda Kenny can do this country proud. Unlike the vast majoirty of our previous leaders. And Michéal Martin has already shown he is not up to the job by already taking big pay offs. Typical FF. Hasnt changed at all.

bop1977

I was going to vote for FG but when Enda doesnt even have the balls to answer a few questions from Vincent Brown, how the hell is he going to even try to negotiate with the EU/IMF people.

Tragedy

Devil08 wrote: »

I disagree. So many of them are corrupt. Im talking about our next Taoiseach though and not just politicians. I believe Enda Kenny can do this country proud. Unlike the vast majoirty of our previous leaders. And Michéal Martin has already shown he is not up to the job by already taking big pay offs. Typical FF. Hasnt changed at all.

You disagree based on what? Unless you have evidence of corruption(and I do mean evidence, I'm not being pedantic and insisting on legal proceedings being brought against them), I'm going to hazard you're just generalising everyone but dear Enda.
For all we know, Enda could be as corrupt as all the other corrupt politicians we don't know are corrupt yet(except you! )

I'm pointing out that the 4 reasons you gave for supporting Enda Kenny were so generic as to applicable to most politicians.

Also: You do realise Enda Kenny only 'resigned' as a teacher a couple of years ago? Long after he had passed the lucrative 20 year threshold for pension entitlements?
How is he better than the rest in that respect?
*edit* According to the indo

Mr Martin said the severance payments being availed of by ministers are no different to the arrangements Labour leader Eamon Gilmore and Mr Kenny received "for a long, long time".

"In particular, Enda would have drawn a ministerial pension while serving as a TD for 13 years," he said.

Is this true?

apoeiguq3094y

Devil08 wrote: »

Im interested in hearing from people as to why this man should not become the next Taoiseach of this country.

......

1. He will never turn up for an interview

Where o where o where is Enda?

K_user

Devil08 wrote: »

Im interested in hearing from people as to why this man should not become the next Taoiseach of this country. Im havnt heard any good reasons so far.

Good reasons are relative. They are the same reasons that one person will like rock music, while the next likes dance. If you like something then there is no explaining to you as to why not to like it...

Devil08 wrote: »

The reasons ive heard so far are outlandish if anything. Some of them include he has no charisma, he has no charm, he is not a good debater, and he is not in touch with modern social media!!! Are these the traits of our next Taoiseach that are really worrying people?

I will be supporting him for some very basic reasons.

Unfortunately the man has to charisma or charm. But neither did Cowen.

The difference being that Brian always looks solid and gruff, while Enda looks a little like a wet fish. Not damning in itself, but we are talking about the leader of a country.

A leader needs to lead. That was Cowens major downfall, he never communicated correctly with the public. Had he taken a more "honest" approach to the countries affairs then he might have had less stick.

Are the Irish people going to get more communication from Kenny?

Aren't we a bit sick of waiting for the tabloids to break a story in the worst possible way and then watching our government trying to side step it?

Devil08 wrote: »

1. He will never turn up for an interview still p!ssed out of his mind from the night before

Probably true.

Devil08 wrote: »

2. He will not rob this country blind through claiming expenses, taking back handers, and any other ways he can find

Dodgy ground there. People tend to only investigate those of interest. Who knows what they might find out about Kenny if he becomes Taoiseach.

Devil08 wrote: »

3. He is passionate and has worked very very hard to get this chance .

As have all politicians. No one becomes a party leader without having worked for it over many years.

Devil08 wrote: »

4. Fianna Fail have taken nurses off the wards, Gardai off the streets, and Teachers out of schools. Simple requirements needed in any country. They have killed this country's public front line services and the public have suffered. Enda Kenny is the only prospective Taoiseach looking to increase these front line services.

Its interesting that you bring that up, part of the debate in the last election was about these very services and Bertie showed the increased numbers in all those sectors, thanks to plans implemented by FF. And I remember clearly that Enda didn't have an answer for him.

Any government will try to increase these services, its what the people want. The only reason they fall short is because of basic cash.

If the next government are lucky enough to sit over a growing economy, then they will put more money into public services. Its logical.

Devil08 wrote: »

The country will continue to suffer under anybody else.

Thats personal opinion.


The problem I have with Kenny is that all I ever hear him talk about is the problems that the others have caused. To me that isn't a good enough reason to elect someone.

The bailout thing is the perfect example. He was going on and on about how he was going to get a better deal, only for Europe to slap him down.

I just don't trust the guy...

dilallio

Devil08 wrote: »

Im interested in hearing from people as to why this man should not become the next Taoiseach of this country. Im havnt heard any good reasons so far.

The reasons ive heard so far are outlandish if anything. Some of them include he has no charisma, he has no charm, he is not a good debater, and he is not in touch with modern social media!!! Are these the traits of our next Taoiseach that are really worrying people?

I will be supporting him for some very basic reasons.

1. He will never turn up for an interview still p!ssed out of his mind from the night before
2. He will not rob this country blind through claiming expenses, taking back handers, and any other ways he can find
3. He is passionate and has worked very very hard to get this chance .
4. Fianna Fail have taken nurses off the wards, Gardai off the streets, and Teachers out of schools. Simple requirements needed in any country. They have killed this country's public front line services and the public have suffered. Enda Kenny is the only prospective Taoiseach looking to increase these front line services.

The country will continue to suffer under anybody else.

FYP

Devil08

apoeiguq3094y wrote: »

Where o where o where is Enda?

Very Good!! haha! He doesnt need to do the debate. People dont realise this. The others need to do the debate in order to gain a few percentage. FG are already in the lead and its only theirs to lose. Plus its been pointed out that he is not the best at debating. This doesnt mean he wont be a good taoiseach. Its all nonsense the amount of focus being put on this debate.

Tragedy

Devil08 wrote: »

Very Good!! haha! He doesnt need to do the debate. People dont realise this. The others need to do the debate in order to gain a few percentage. FG are already in the lead and its only theirs to lose. Plus its been pointed out that he is not the best at debating. Does doesnt mean he wont be a good taoiseach. Its all nonsense the amount of focus being put on this debate.

Were you watching TV3 this morning where a very dishevelled Vincent Browne said the exact same things?
Not that I disagree, I just think he shouldn't have bull****ted(twice) about the reasons for not doing it.

Devil08

Tragedy wrote: »

Were you watching TV3 this morning where a very dishevelled Vincent Browne said the exact same things?
Not that I disagree, I just think he shouldn't have bull****ted(twice) about the reasons for not doing it.

I didnt see it no! You cant blame him for making excuses can you? He is hardly going to come out and say hes not good at debating and he didnt want to be found out. It wouldnt look good. It would make people form opinions of him and he would lose votes. unnecessarily too. Do people really care if hes good at debating or not? Its just not the be all and end all for me. Bertie was great at debating.

Tragedy

Devil08 wrote: »

I didnt see it no! You cant blame him for making excuses can you? He is hardly going to come out and say hes not good at debating and he didnt want to be found out. It wouldnt look good. It would make people form opinions of him and he would lose votes. unnecessarily too. Do people really care if hes good at debating or not? Its just not the be all and end all for me. Bertie was great at debating.

Plenty of other leaders have come out and said "I'm not debating".

He could have simply said "I don't believe a leaders debate is constructive, I don't believe tv debating skills is relevant to my candidacy as Taoiseach and I won't be participating".
Much better than lying.

Resi12

Devil08 wrote: »

Im interested in hearing from people as to why this man should not become the next Taoiseach of this country. Im havnt heard any good reasons so far.

The reasons ive heard so far are outlandish if anything. Some of them include he has no charisma, he has no charm, he is not a good debater, and he is not in touch with modern social media!!! Are these the traits of our next Taoiseach that are really worrying people?

I will be supporting him for some very basic reasons.

1. He will never turn up for an interview still p!ssed out of his mind from the night before
2. He will not rob this country blind through claiming expenses, taking back handers, and any other ways he can find
3. He is passionate and has worked very very hard to get this chance .
4. Fianna Fail have taken nurses off the wards, Gardai off the streets, and Teachers out of schools. Simple requirements needed in any country. They have killed this country's public front line services and the public have suffered. Enda Kenny is the only prospective Taoiseach looking to increase these front line services.

The country will continue to suffer under anybody else.

How do you actually know he won't do that though? I mean we are still having to scrimp and save regarding the budget. Just because FG are in the Dáil does not mean all the nurses, teachers and gardai will get their jobs back or that more will get cut.

They are ridiculous reasons to vote for him, no offence but you should be looking and comparing policies and what they are proposing rather than on how you feel he will measure up to the last Taoiseach because that's never a good idea.

Devil08

Tragedy wrote: »

Plenty of other leaders have come out and said "I'm not debating".

He could have simply said "I don't believe a leaders debate is constructive, I don't believe tv debating skills is relevant to my candidacy as Taoiseach and I won't be participating".
Much better than lying.

Youre right. Im sure he knows that. Im sure he would have prepared a better answer too if he knew how much of a stir it would cause! But come on, its not like he was lying about where the suitcase full of money under his bed came from!

Tragedy

Devil08 wrote: »

Youre right. Im sure he knows that. Im sure he would have prepared a better answer too if he knew how much of a stir it would cause! But come on, its not like he was lying about where the suitcase full of money under his bed came from!

Eh? He shouldn't have needed to 'prepare' an answer, he should know what his strengths and weaknesses are.

And the fact that he wasn't lying about corruption money doesn't automagically make it ok that he lied to get out of a tight spot. Willie O'Dea did that, and look where it ended up for him

Devil08

Tragedy wrote: »

Eh? He shouldn't have needed to 'prepare' an answer, he should know what his strengths and weaknesses are.

And the fact that he wasn't lying about corruption money doesn't automagically make it ok that he lied to get out of a tight spot. Willie O'Dea did that, and look where it ended up for him

But no one takes him seriously with that moustache anyway do they!?

Tragedy

He's performed better than Enda in every single election he's run for and tbh, I don't think he could much worse opinion rating than Enda either.

Devil08

Tragedy wrote: »

He's performed better than Enda in every single election he's run for and tbh, I don't think he could much worse opinion rating than Enda either.

So who will you be backing then?

Mr. Presentable

Top 10 TD expenses, 2005–2008

Ned O'Keeffe (FF) €304,137.80

Pat Breen (FG) €301,206.72

Michael Lowry (Ind) €299,478.55

Bernard Allen (FG) €298,412.66

Peter Kelly (FF) €291,464.60

Jackie Healy-rae (Ind) €290,662.99

Dinny McGinley (FG) €289,616.80

John Cregan (FF) €288,002.33

Enda Kenny (FG) €285,277.30

Phil Hogan (FG) €280,794.83

Devil08

Anything more recent?

Mr. Presentable

In September 2002, Kenny was accused of making racist remarks, when he used the word 'ni**er' during a racist joke in relation to Patrice Lumumba, the assassinated first Prime Minister of Congo. Kenny was subsequently condemned by race campaigners

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/sep/15/world.race

Tragedy

Devil08 wrote: »

So who will you be backing then?

Michael Martin as leader of FG with Labours policies. It's what the opinion polls agree on as being what the Irish population wants.

Devil08 wrote: »

Anything more recent?

Jaysus, now you're just seeming desperate dude.

Mr. Presentable

Devil08 wrote: »

Anything more recent?

2008 is recent!

In 2008, the last year for which a full record is available, Bertie Ahern claimed €56,979 in expenses.

Enda Kenny, who faced criticism over his reluctance to comment on recent expenses controversies, made considerable claims, according to the figures.
Since 2005, he has claimed expenses totalling €285,277, claiming more than €70,000 annually for the past three years

http://www.tribune.ie/article/2009/oct/25/life-at-your-expense/

Resi12

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

Top 10 TD expenses, 2005–2008

Ned O'Keeffe (FF) €304,137.80

Pat Breen (FG) €301,206.72

Michael Lowry (Ind) €299,478.55

Bernard Allen (FG) €298,412.66

Peter Kelly (FF) €291,464.60

Jackie Healy-rae (Ind) €290,662.99

Dinny McGinley (FG) €289,616.80

John Cregan (FF) €288,002.33

Enda Kenny (FG) €285,277.30

Phil Hogan (FG) €280,794.83

Thats like 6-3 years old..? Also what's 20,000 when your already earning 285,000? I mean it's not that vastly different to the top earner of then.

Mr. Presentable

Devil08 wrote: »

Anything more recent?

Look, my point is he is not the squeaky clean guardian angel you seem to think.

r3nu4l

I watched Enda on the Late Late Show last year and was bitterly disappointed by him. As has been said, there needs to be a straight-talking leader who will talk honestly to the people of the country. What I saw on the Late Late Show was 'Mr. Soundbite' who delivered nothing but typical cheesy slogans to the LLS audience and the viewing public.

It was a dreadful performance. Now I see that he won't attend a debate involving Vincent Browne. Madness. Enda won't get to choose who he talks to regarding the big issues of the Irish economy if he becomes Taoiseach.

We also don't see any transparency regarding donations to FG which makes the party look decidedly dodgy and shows that they haven't learned that the public are sick of the backroom deals that result in a select few businessmen earning millions and the rest of us paying for it.

So my reason why Enda should not be Taoiseach would be because the man has yet to show that he's straight-talking rather than full of the same old hot-air we get from everyone else. That said, I'd like to see what FG could do in power if they weren't in a coalition or reliant on a few Independents.

passive

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

Top 10 TD expenses, 2005–2008

Ned O'Keeffe (FF) €304,137.80

Pat Breen (FG) €301,206.72

Michael Lowry (Ind) €299,478.55

Bernard Allen (FG) €298,412.66

Peter Kelly (FF) €291,464.60

Jackie Healy-rae (Ind) €290,662.99

Dinny McGinley (FG) €289,616.80

John Cregan (FF) €288,002.33

Enda Kenny (FG) €285,277.30

Phil Hogan (FG) €280,794.83

Jaysus! The leader of the main opposition party of the dail has one of the highest expenses of all the TDs? Shocking Joe, simply shocking.

And as to your other link: He was telling an anecdote, in which the person he was quoting, in a different context, used a word that is bad. I'm sure you can dig up a thread from boards when that happened you'll find 200 posts of "PC gone mad" and "that's ridiculous, **** off and report some actual news."

Devil08

I find it impossible to believe how anyone can claim on average 100k a year on expenses. Its crazy. What are they spending it on!? I was just asking for a more recent table as Im sure there are lots of new names on it for the last 3 years.

Resi12

Ohhh I thought you were trying to show him in a good light, I was a bit baffled there. Sorry.

Mr. Presentable

Resi12 wrote: »

Thats like 6-3 years old..? Also what's 20,000 when your already earning 285,000? I mean it's not that vastly different to the top earner of then.

If anything that's worse. What's €20k when you take €676,745.95 in salary and expenses between 2005 and 2008