Kenny looked uncomfortable with Obama

darkman2

Just saw the statement from Enda Kenny and Barrack Obama at Farmleigh. Thought the body language with Kenny was interesting. He did not look comfortable at all. Like something had been said inside like a home truth.

Maybe im reading too much into it but that is the impression I got. Anybody else get that sense? He would not even look at Obama for long periods even when Obama was clearly talking to him.

the west wing

I thought he looked ok. A little bit fidgety but I put that down to the fact that he doesn't was to do something stupid in front of the world's media so his mind is screaming 'don't f*ck up, don't f*ck up!!!'

markpb

Is it possible that maybe he's just intimidated by meeting Obama?

later12

No, didn't think so at all. Enda Kenny is used to dealing with international leaders by now not really sure what would be so intimidating about the American variety.

LeeHoffmann

Is it possible that maybe he's just intimidated by meeting Obama?

I was thinking that myself actually. He seemed to have a little bit of hand-wringing going on. Obama had his own hands (and other gesticulators :P) under control - he looks kind of 'coached' to me

loldog

No, he didn't look nervous to me. Both leaders mirrored each other's posture, indicating agreement and conviviality.

.

later12

Maybe he was intimidated by the size of Obama's deficit.

Cat Melodeon

Poor Enda was probably a bit starstruck. He's by no means a slick statesman, not yet anyway, he's still got too much of the Mayo farmer about him. When they met on the steps of Farmleigh and they were posing for photos, Enda and Fionnuala were a bit all over the place. At one point it looked like Fionnuala was going to head back into the house before everyone else when the normal protocol is that the leaders go first followed by the spouses. It really looked like she was saying, "c'mon in, I've the kettle on, we'll have a nice bit of brack". She's a savvy woman, but the Kennys always seem very homely and sweet, rather than polished and cosmopolitan. I guess that's part of the appeal?

InigoMontoya

Kenny often doesn't look the most comfortable on TV anyway, so I wouldn't read too much into it.

tayto lover

Kenny looked uncomfortable with the Queen too.
He is just not convincing as a leader.

Frank Black

Maybe he's a racist?

Liam Byrne

tayto lover wrote: »

Kenny looked uncomfortable with the Queen too.
He is just not convincing as a leader.

Compare to anyone we've had for the last 20 years, he's a massive damn improvement!

http://www.independent.ie/multimedia/archive/00177/leaders2_177301t.jpg
http://oneworldscam.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/brian-cowen-drunk-360x480-150x150.jpg

dan_d

His body language tends to show that he doesn't always seem to be quite at ease at these things - he looked similar around the Queen.

Mind you, he's getting better (he's only been in the job a few months!).Plus Obama is a very tall guy. Most guys I know look vaguely uneasy when they come face to face with another man that's taller than them. And I can only imagine that when the tall guy is also the leader of the USA, you wouldn't be at your most comfortable!

Having said all that, Enda is getting better at this. He's much better than I expected him to be.

jmayo

Cat Melodeon wrote: »

Poor Enda was probably a bit starstruck. He's by no means a slick statesman, not yet anyway, he's still got too much of the Mayo farmer about him. When they met on the steps of Farmleigh and they were posing for photos, Enda and Fionnuala were a bit all over the place. At one point it looked like Fionnuala was going to head back into the house before everyone else when the normal protocol is that the leaders go first followed by the spouses. It really looked like she was saying, "c'mon in, I've the kettle on, we'll have a nice bit of brack". She's a savvy woman, but the Kennys always seem very homely and sweet, rather than polished and cosmopolitan. I guess that's part of the appeal?

BTW Kenny was never a farmer, that was flynns wife.

I don't think you know much about Fionnuala if you think she is just homely and sweet. :rolleyes:

Chnandler Bong

Was a bit ridiculous when Kenny gave Obama a hurl, I'd say Kenny did'nt know which end to hold it been from Mayo.

JonathanAnon

Have to say I thought Enda looked very nervous, worried about making a mistake.. Everything he said was painstakingly pre prepared and delivered with a similarly meticulous nature.. I thought he looked far more relaxed with the Queen..

conscious

Maybe he's disgusted at the amount innocent women and children Obama is responsible for killing

280special

He looked like one of those people who is anxious to get their photo taken with someone famous, he sure as hell didnt come across as the leader of a country.

And just because his recent predecessors werent any good for anything, apart from looking after themselves and their pals, doesnt mean that someone who at times looks & sounds like a 2nd rate county councillor is good enough ...Shame that Richard Bruton wasnt there instead !

eagle eye

I find it embarrassing having somebody who told a racist joke representing the Irish people. I'm sure Barack Obama is well aware of that fact as it was well publicised.

This is not an anti-Fine Gael post before some people start.

davidrafferty

Enda did great and President Obama was inspirational.

Makes you proud to be Irish.

It's very easy to knock ...... not so easy to acknowledge that we can oversome our problems ...... not so easy to bring out the best in people and that's what Barack Obama does.

dan_d

Having watched Enda and Barack, I have to say, I'm impressed.

We're very good at criticising ourselves, running ourselves and our leaders into the ground, sneering and laughing at each other. Enda's speech was remarkable. There was a passion there that you don't normally hear from Irish leaders...it was more of an American speech than an Irish speech. He did well - neither Cowen nor Ahern would have been able to pull that off. As a country, we need a bit of a pick-us-up, and the last week or so has hopefully provided some of that, no matter how you feel about either the Queen or Obama.

I think, for once, we should just enjoy what's happened, bask in the slight afterglow and try and have a slightly brighter outlook on what's ahead. We've been so busy being sunk in a depression, we've forgotten that not everything is bad.And hey, who knows? Maybe "We can"...

Yahew

yeah, I thought he did good. And I am, as someone who has lived abroad for a few years, fairly impressed by Enda and team.

KeithAFC

I thought he was going to thank the Irish and Ulster Scots Protestants who fought for the confederates but i was wrong.

Yahew

KeithAFC wrote: »

I thought he was going to thank the Irish and Ulster Scots Protestants who fought for the confederates but i was wrong.

Well, he was non-sectarian. his ancestor was COI. Apparently.

PARKHEAD67

darkman2 wrote: »

Just saw the statement from Enda Kenny and Barrack Obama at Farmleigh. Thought the body language with Kenny was interesting. He did not look comfortable at all. Like something had been said inside like a home truth.

Maybe im reading too much into it but that is the impression I got. Anybody else get that sense? He would not even look at Obama for long periods even when Obama was clearly talking to him.

He did grand.Enda Kenny is one of the few politicians I actually believe when he speaks.

PARKHEAD67

KeithAFC wrote: »

I thought he was going to thank the Irish and Ulster Scots Protestants who fought for the confederates but i was wrong.

Off to Ibrox with you:D

PARKHEAD67

conscious wrote: »

Maybe he's disgusted at the amount innocent women and children Obama is responsible for killing

Oh FFS

KeithAFC

Yahew wrote: »

Well, he was non-sectarian. his ancestor was COI. Apparently.

US has more blood and sectarian and racist past under the Union flag than the Confederate and South flags. I thought he would of mentioned it. I was disappointed.

PARKHEAD67

KeithAFC wrote: »

US has more blood and sectarian and racist past under the Union flag than the Confederate and South flags. I thought he would of mentioned it. I was disappointed.

Ibrox.Now thats some sectarian s***. Your a rangers man? Dont even go there bud.

loldog

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Oh FFS

I wouldn't be so dismissive, there are valid concerns about US foreign policy.

.

PARKHEAD67

loldog wrote: »

I wouldn't be so dismissive, there are valid concerns about US foreign policy.
True, but they do a lot more good than bad IMO.

runman

Great day to be irish!

The yanks love us and we need their investment...

All vey positive today even Enda

Its amazing to see somebody make a speech without notes like that and hold a countries attention. Hes the best iv seen.. A bit of Charisma and the ability to laugh at yourself goes a long way.:)

baztard

Well done to Enda Kenny. I thought he done everything that was required of him. His speech especially was excellent, both in delivery and content. He kept it light but still rousing, and managed to fit in an implicit rally call to the Irish American community. Your weeks hard work will hopefully pay dividend for Ireland, north and south. I hope you enjoy a well deserved pint tonight.

Mental Mickey

black francis wrote: »

Maybe he's a racist?

Maybe you're a goon??

thebman

Think he was nervous TBH.

When he was giving his speech and introduction, he came across as a nobody, not the lead of the Irish government.

It seemed more like he was just a guy there to introduce the president much like the guy setting up the mic.

maynooth_rules

Some people are never happy. Read it elsewhere today, and it is very true. Some people would not even be happy with Kenny if he started pissing out money to get us out of the recession. He did very very well today yet some people are using their preconceived ideas about him to bash him with.

Enda, well done

EggsAckley

thebman wrote: »

Think he was nervous TBH.

When he was giving his speech and introduction, he came across as a nobody, not the lead of the Irish government.

It seemed more like he was just a guy there to introduce the president much like the guy setting up the mic.

Got to say I find this a ludicrous interpretation of his speech. He went on a bit and rambled and not for the first time but he was undeniable passionate and he fired the crowd up leaving obamas speech sounding flat for the first part. Considering only a fraction of the crowd would have voted for him or his party I reckon that's is some achievement

later12

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Some people would not even be happy with Kenny if he started pissing out money to get us out of the recession.

Well, no actually, we would not.

That isn't how recovery works! You don't piss money and you don't dump it from helicopters,. Recovery is about monetary efficiency and sustainable debt, not simply increasing the volume of money in itself.

However, I will say re: today's proceedings at College Green, I thought it was a fantastic speech by Kenny. If we could bottle that energy and feed it to Kenny every so often I think we would see big progress in Irish economic and crisis policy.

alex73

the west wing wrote: »

I thought he looked ok. A little bit fidgety but I put that down to the fact that he doesn't was to do something stupid in front of the world's media so his mind is screaming 'don't f*ck up, don't f*ck up!!!'

I think he was fine. Infact he totally different as toiseach than as opposition leader. Well done for the past week.

Lovelyguy

Glad this thread has stopped being about two equally terrible football teams.

Anyways, it was a great day apart from the cringeworthy introduction Enda (who I like) gave to Bigg Poppa O! (Obama)

andrewdeerpark

As I said in another post

I'm sorry I thought Enda Kenny's speech needed an editor with him missing the handoff to Obama several times rambling on into another rant.

He reminded me of a Gaa manager giving a half time pep talk at the Mayo county final, and not exactly an international leader with oratory skills in the league of Obama, Blair or Clinton. Not a patch on Mary McAlesse's speech last week during the royal dinner.

I was listening on the radio in the car shouting at him to finish up. Maybe it was different watching on the TV.

To be fair Obama's speech was not his best either.

The whole event was poor com paired to the Queens visit.

Killer Pigeon

I'm kind of disappointed with Obama's visit actually.

The only reason he came to Ireland was to influence the Irish American voters ahead of his 2012 campaign - he could have at least done or said something with substance in return like a clear "America supports Ireland's low corporation tax", but alas.

Obama seems to me to be nothing more than a robotic electioneering machine. I got the impression that he didn't want to be here and the only thing he needed was the brief photo op and then slán go fóill. I believe that there was some leak a week ago that the Moneygall visit was going to be cancel too, probably a hint at the fact that he didn't want to go.

I thought that Kenny's speak was a bit cringe-worthy too. Obama probably felt like he was listening to some embarrassing distance cousin. Did you notice that Obama walked out on stage right in the middle of Kenny's speech (it didn't look like it was planned) - it was almost like he was trying to tell Kenny to hurry up and get it over with.

I bet he was delighted about the Icelandic volcanic eruption - a great excuse to get out Ireland, leaving more time to visit his real allies. He used us and gave us nothing more than "yes we can" in return. He might as well have not come at all.

I can't believe people actually try to compare Obama to JFK, it's quite sickening actually.

juuge

I wonder how Biffo would have done had he still been Taoiseach!

yosemite_sam

black francis wrote: »

Maybe he's a racist?

He would not be used to meeting black people for sure but racist, I would hope not

steelcityblues

yosemite_sam wrote: »

He would not be used to meeting black people for sure but racist, I would hope not

He's a very tribal, unworldly sort of fellow though, and has tried to pretend otherwise.

andrewdeerpark

To be fair Biffo had all these 2 visits set up for Enda Kenny; more evidence he was an unlucky general.

I did notice Brian Lenihan missing from all events; a bit sad really considering his illness and all he did during his time as minister for finance (regardless of whether you agreed or not with the bank guarantee, nobody can doubt his patriotic loyalty to the Irish cause).

Killer Pigeon

andrewdeerpark wrote: »

To be fair Biffo had all these 2 visits set up for Enda Kenny; more evidence he was an unlucky general.

I did notice Brian Lenihan missing from all events; a bit sad really considering his illness and all he did during his time as minister for finance (regardless of whether you agreed or not with the bank guarantee, nobody can doubt his patriotic loyalty to the Irish cause).

I actually think that Brian Lenihan would have been a pretty good Taoiseach had Bertie or Cowen not destroyed everything. I say this and believe me I'm no Fianna Fáiler.

Lenihan would have been better if he had full control and not a mere cabinet ministerial position. It really is so sad to see his political career destroyed by imbeciles who came before him, coupled with the very sad reality that his health is deteriorating.

He's so much more professional, educated and statesmanlike than anyone in Fianna Fáil since [dare I say] Charlie Haughey or his father Brian Lenihan Senior.

kippy

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

I'm kind of disappointed with Obama's visit actually.

The only reason he came to Ireland was to influence the Irish American voters ahead of his 2012 campaign - he could have at least done or said something with substance in return like a clear "America supports Ireland's low corporation tax", but alas.

Obama seems to me to be nothing more than a robotic electioneering machine. I got the impression that he didn't want to be here and the only thing he needed was the brief photo op and then slán go fóill. I believe that there was some leak a week ago that the Moneygall visit was going to be cancel too, probably a hint at the fact that he didn't want to go.

I thought that Kenny's speak was a bit cringe-worthy too. Obama probably felt like he was listening to some embarrassing distance cousin. Did you notice that Obama walked out on stage right in the middle of Kenny's speech (it didn't look like it was planned) - it was almost like he was trying to tell Kenny to hurry up and get it over with.

I bet he was delighted about the Icelandic volcanic eruption - a great excuse to get out Ireland, leaving more time to visit his real allies. He used us and gave us nothing more than "yes we can" in return. He might as well have not come at all.

I can't believe people actually try to compare Obama to JFK, it's quite sickening actually.

Look, he was only here for 12 hours - he's not gonna be pulling up trees in that time and in fairness relative to the size of our country we were lucky to see him at all.
I'd rather he was making the right sounds behind the scenes to be honest.

I didn't think he looked like he didnt want to be anywhere at any stage - he genuinely seemed interested in all of what was going on.
His arrival on stage was planned - look at the speech again.
Relative to the two shisters that went before him Kenny made an excellent speech, hit the right notes and came across as genuine.

You've obviously been around a long time to know about the whole of JFK's presidency and know that himself and BO have nothing in common.

steelcityblues

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

I actually think that Brian Lenihan would have been a pretty good Taoiseach had Bertie or Cowen not destroyed everything. I say this and believe me I'm no Fianna Fáiler.

Lenihan would have been better if he had full control and not a mere cabinet ministerial position. It really is so sad to see his political career destroyed by imbeciles who came before him, coupled with the very sad reality that his health is deteriorating.

He's so much more professional, educated and statesmanlike than anyone in Fianna Fáil since [dare I say] Charlie Haughey or his father Brian Lenihan Senior.

You have got to be kidding. One of the most evasive politicians I have ever witnessed, especially on the level of the ECB's influence over financial affairs.

Maybe you were fooled, because he was better spoken than the likes of Cowen?

Killer Pigeon

kippy wrote: »

Look, he was only here for 12 hours - he's not gonna be pulling up trees in that time and in fairness relative to the size of our country we were lucky to see him at all.
I'd rather he was making the right sounds behind the scenes to be honest.

I didn't think he looked like he didnt want to be anywhere at any stage - he genuinely seemed interested in all of what was going on.
His arrival on stage was planned - look at the speech again.
Relative to the two shisters that went before him Kenny made an excellent speech, hit the right notes and came across as genuine.

You've obviously been around a long time to know about the whole of JFK's presidency and know that himself and BO have nothing in common.

Does it take 12 hours to say a simple phrase? He didn't even have to come to Ireland to do that.

The only thing that could have made Obama's visit meaningful for Ireland is if he said openly that he supported Ireland's low corporate tax rate, in my opinion. He gave some bland statement about "support" but it's hard to interpret exactly what he meant.

We know that JFK had a genuine affinity towards Ireland according to accounts given by many of his relatives and staff after he was assassinated. He was very found of his Irish ancestry and kept in contact with a lot of Irish American in the North-Eastern US. My grand aunt (emigrated to the US) had the opportunity to meet him once before he was president.

Obama just came here to milk his 3.1% "Irishness" for all its worth in order to sway the opinions of the 40 million Irish-American voters (you comment on that fact that we're looking to have him in the first place but remember that ~40 million votes could prove to be quite lucrative for Obama in 2012).

zootroid

andrewdeerpark wrote: »

To be fair Biffo had all these 2 visits set up for Enda Kenny; more evidence he was an unlucky general.

I did notice Brian Lenihan missing from all events; a bit sad really considering his illness and all he did during his time as minister for finance (regardless of whether you agreed or not with the bank guarantee, nobody can doubt his patriotic loyalty to the Irish cause).

I thought the Obama visit was arranged when Kenny went to the State for Paddies day?