Enda Kenny...do you like or loathe him?

Eve_Dublin

Hello! This has probably been covered already but I suppose opinion changes day-to-day. I don't live in Ireland anymore. I flew home to vote this year (which I know some people have a problem with but wanted to get my revenge as much as the next person...the last government are partly the reason I don't see myself going home for a long time, which makes me sad...anyway..) and voted Labour and the Socialists and was disgusted that Fine Gael got in but wasn't surprised. I try to read the Irish papers on a a daily basis and generally I'm pleasantly surprised what I read about Enda and most recently, when he spoke out against the Vatican. I thought it was an unbelievably brave move and showed some balls. My respect for him went up again by 6%.

I suppose I was expecting the very worst and anything positive he does is amplified by a million just because I wasn't expecting it. I don't feel like this guy is an utter creep like so many politicians you hear about. So for those living at home and abroad, what are your feelings on Enda Kenny? Do you like him? Do you loathe him? Has he our best intentions at heart? Is he a fecker of the highest order and is as corrupt as the rest of them? Do you like his haircut? Will he fix Ireland and make it all better so I can come home someday?

orourkeda

apathetic

he hasnt f*cked up or set the world alight

he may have made a few friends for himself today though

stupidusername

he looks like he's afraid his face is going to fall off if he shows too much expression.

Scuid Mhór

what do you guys think of eve_dublin? i get enda's the taoiseach on all but god damn, this is a public forum. probably the largest based for ireland.

Chuck Stone

Enda and the new crowd have picked up where the other bastards left off and probably wouldn't have done anything different to them anyway.

It's the illusion of having control and choice.

What he said today is no more than the victims deserve.

Pity he's not so curt with Timothy Geitner and co.

Mint Sauce

Eve_Dublin wrote: »

Hello! This has probably been covered already but I suppose opinion changes day-to-day. I don't live in Ireland anymore. I flew home to vote this year (which I know some people have a problem with but wanted to get my revenge as much as the next person...the last government are partly the reason I don't see myself going home for a long time, which makes me sad...anyway..) and voted Labour and the Socialists and was disgusted that Fine Gael got in but wasn't surprised. I try to read the Irish papers on a a daily basis and generally I'm pleasantly surprised what I read about Enda and most recently, when he spoke out against the Vatican. I thought it was an unbelievably brave move and showed some balls. My respect for him went up again by 6%.

I suppose I was expecting the very worst and anything positive he does is amplified by a million just because I wasn't expecting it. I don't feel like this guy is an utter creep like so many politicians you hear about. So for those living at home and abroad, what are your feelings on Enda Kenny? Do you like him? Do you loathe him? Has he our best intentions at heart? Is he a fecker of the highest order and is as corrupt as the rest of them? Do you like his haircut? Will he fix Ireland and make it all better so I can come home someday?

Earlier this evening oddly enough

maringo

Must say i am impressed with how he is handling the Cloyne issue. The guy seems to have guts.

Eve_Dublin

irish-stew wrote: »

Earlier this evening oddly enough

But only the specific attack on the Vatican. I'm talking more generally.

Latchy

It's early days but he's a refreshing change from what went before and will be judged on future decisions and leadership .He didn't do himself any harm with his speech today either .

Sweatynutsack

The man really has the weirdest smile in the world !!

Biggins

Sweatynutsack wrote: »

The man really has the weirdest smile in the world !!

Its scary some times!

starbelgrade

I have a very real suspicion that he may be a cyborb.

Liam Byrne

starbelgrade wrote: »

I have a very real suspicion that he may be a cyborb.

A what ?

Sweatynutsack

Biggins wrote: »

Its scary some times!

Yes scary is the word !! his face kinda twitches or something

starbelgrade

Liam Byrne wrote: »

A what ?

A cyborg.

Sorry. I have a colb.

Biggins

starbelgrade wrote: »

A cyborg.

Sorry. I have a colb.

Bless you! Kazuntight.

Storminateacup

I wouldn't even care if pope benedict came and rear ended him personally.

theg81der

Can`t like or loathe him he`s just a tool. Can see by his face he can`t believe he`s gotten away with it and all the other eijits are following him. I expect a laughing soundtrack and a witty punch line to play everytime I see him but it never comes.......seriously he`s the Taoiseach, he represents us as a country to other countries....no SERIOUSLY!

Latchy

If he could just top up his tan he could easy pass for a newly appointed chief of police on CSI .

Latchy

theg81der wrote: »

Can`t like or loathe him he`s just a tool. Can see by his face he can`t believe he`s gotten away with it and all the other eijits are following him. I expect a laughing soundtrack and a witty punch line to play everytime I see him but it never comes.......seriously he`s the Taoiseach, he represents us as a country to other countries....no SERIOUSLY!

Who you talkng about , Charles Haughy ?

Eve_Dublin

Hmmm. This wasn't the love in I expected. :cool:

Liam Byrne

Latchy wrote: »

Who you talkng about , Charles Haughy ?

Sounds more like Ahern to me!

Latchy

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Sounds more like Ahern to me!

Or any of them ,like one shoe fits all size .

Dangerous Man

He's talking the talk alright when it comes to priest rape but let's see if he'll walk the walk. You all know what walk I'm talking about.

Latchy

Dangerous Man wrote: »

He's talking the talk alright when it comes to priest rape but let's see if he'll walk the walk. You all know what walk I'm talking about.

Like an Egyptian

allthedoyles

He does'nt convince me either -

Ally Dick

I think he is out of his depth. You don't give the biggest job in the country to a school teacher

flahavaj

I think he's a decent man who's doing a near impossible job to the best of his ability and taking difficult decisions that he has been forced to make by his predecessors' incompetence and corruption. I was deeply impresed with his speech today.

Dangerous Man

Latchy wrote: »

Like an Egyptian

Not quite there yet...

mackg

There is no doubt the man has zero charisma, but Bertie the fella who you would have thought would be great craic to go for a pint with and he did nothing but damage. It's too early to make judgements on this government be they good or bad. I'm going to make my assessment a little further down the line when what we have really lost/gained through his leadership is apparent.

rounding tattenham Corner

i'd say i nearly love him after today and not for the vatican speech but for when he put the terrorist adams in his place today,

El_Drago

FG have to move on from blaming everything that's wrong with the country on previous governments,it's getting old now.

mackg

rounding tattenham Corner wrote: »

i'd say i nearly love him after today and not for the vatican speech but for when he put the terrorist adams in his place today,

What did he say? I've heard nothing about this.

Toby Take a Bow

Eve_Dublin wrote: »

and voted Labour and the Socialists and was disgusted that Fine Gael got in but wasn't surprised. I try to read the Irish papers on a a daily basis and generally I'm pleasantly surprised what I read about Enda and most recently, when he spoke out against the Vatican. I thought it was an unbelievably brave move and showed some balls. My respect for him went up again by 6%.

I still view Enda and Fine Gael as similar to Cowen and Fianna Fail. No real differences in their policies. Had the roles been reversed, we'd be in the same mess right now, and with the opposing party suggesting the same 'solutions'. The comments from Enda, to me, were made when the overwhelming position from the public on the recent revelations couldn't be ignored, and so Enda made a statement to appeal to public sentiment. It's populist stuff (although having said that, it's good that - finally - something like this was said by our taoiseach directly to the Vatican state and not the bishops of Ireland).

But there's no other option, it seems. When Fine Gael are spent, we'll have Fianna Fail back again. And vice-versa. For eternity.

Eve_Dublin

Toby Take a Bow wrote: »

I still view Enda and Fine Gael as similar to Cowen and Fianna Fail. No real differences in their policies. Had the roles been reversed, we'd be in the same mess right now, and with the opposing party suggesting the same 'solutions'. The comments from Enda, to me, were made when the overwhelming position from the public on the recent revelations couldn't be ignored, and so Enda made a statement to appeal to public sentiment. It's populist stuff (although having said that, it's good that - finally - something like this was said by our taoiseach directly to the Vatican state and not the bishops of Ireland).

But there's no other option, it seems. When Fine Gael are spent, we'll have Fianna Fail back again. And vice-versa. For eternity.

My own political persuasion would be socialist has been ever since I started voting, so I don't agree with many of his policies. I suppose I'm surprised by Enda so anything he does that is in some way positive, I'm pleasantly surprised by. I suppose the last shower were so bad, anything looks good in comparison. As you say, his policies are pretty much the same as his predecessor but I don't dislike the guy as much as I thought I would I'd go as far as saying I don't dislike him at all.

Yes, his speech today was appealing to the public sentiment but at the end of the day, regardless of his ulterior motives (i.e. gain popularity with us), it WAS said and the message will be heard by those in power within the Vatican. Politicians are supposed to represent us and if he made the speech because of public pressure, then surely that's a good thing? It feels like we're being listened to for a change.

I suppose I don't expect much from ANY politician and it's a case of being thrown a scrap of bread when you're starving. Sad that it has to be a case of "better than nothing" when it comes to politics but that's the way of the world, unfortunately. They're all bastards but some less than others.

rounding tattenham Corner

mackg wrote: »

What did he say? I've heard nothing about this.

adams was going on about how it was a disgrace about the comment, being on the dole was a life style choice for some. Kenny said Adams had a great lifestyle when he was on the dole, traveling all over the world when he was on the dole.

Spacedog

I've never voted for FF or FG, but I hope he leads well and does the country proud.

To my mind there are several long standing issues that need to be solved in Ireland, that symbolise underlying problems holding the country back. I'm grateful to anyone with the balls to try to tackle them.

issue --> underlying problem

Repeated clerical scandals/state provided limited liability insurance for sexual abuse --> RCC interference with the state

Corrib gas --> past government corruption upheld/ignored by new governments.

US use of Shannon --> unofficial, informal, unaccountable international agreements that not negotiable with the people through the demographic framework.

Snowie

look at the mess of country we have

I think hes doing a good job for some one whos walked intoa kitchen after 16 6 year old kids have ran sacked it...

I think hes not the most charming of induviduals but hes doing a better job then his predecessors....

id just like to see him well i understand the need to raise cost of education and i think its fair but it should be more scrutinized more for parents who can more then afford to send there kids to college should happen but also pump money into the facilities of the college's around sthe country

MickShamrock

Loathe. There's something about him.

Ulysses Gaze

Ally Dick wrote: »

I think he is out of his depth. You don't give the biggest job in the country to a school teacher

Hey, if a Car Counter at the Mater Hospital can be Taoiseach.....

Snowie

MickShamrock wrote: »

Loathe. There's something about him.

I believe its called a politician :pac:

G_R

Sweatynutsack wrote: »

Yes scary is the word !! his face kinda twitches or something

Biggins wrote: »

Its scary some times!

Little bit late with the smile thing, but I just had to post this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ivRYqtVg-w

Zebra3

Eve_Dublin wrote: »

My own political persuasion would be socialist has been ever since I started voting, so I don't agree with many of his policies. I suppose I'm surprised by Enda so anything he does that is in some way positive, I'm pleasantly surprised by. I suppose the last shower were so bad, anything looks good in comparison. As you say, his policies are pretty much the same as his predecessor but I don't dislike the guy as much as I thought I would I'd go as far as saying I don't dislike him at all.

Eve,

Are you really a socialist?

Kenny is a collaborator in overseeing the shifting of €100,000,000,000 of private debt onto the taxpayer resulting in cutbacks that will kill working class people and destroy their lives.

Our country is now under EU/IMF occupation which he supported in opposition and which he now, as our Taoiseach, proudly endorses as a modern day Quisling.

ilovesleep

The Mahon tribunal should be out soon. Lets see how he handles that. Could he get the ball moving on releasing that I wonder.

Eve_Dublin

Zebra3 wrote: »

Eve,

Are you really a socialist?

Kenny is a collaborator in overseeing the shifting of €100,000,000,000 of private debt onto the taxpayer resulting in cutbacks that will kill working class people and destroy their lives.

Our country is now under EU/IMF occupation which he supported in opposition and which he now, as our Taoiseach, proudly endorses as a modern day Quisling.

I think you have to reread what I wrote CAREFULLY.

Toby Take a Bow

Eve_Dublin wrote: »

Yes, his speech today was appealing to the public sentiment but at the end of the day, regardless of his ulterior motives (i.e. gain popularity with us), it WAS said and the message will be heard by those in power within the Vatican. Politicians are supposed to represent us and if he made the speech because of public pressure, then surely that's a good thing? It feels like we're being listened to for a change.

I'd vote socialist too, so whoever's in power is never really going to appeal with me, so yeah, what was said was a good thing to be said, but I'd never really trust someone who issues a statement like that only after the fact. I'd prefer Kenny to stick by his right-wing ideas so that we know what to expect, rather than someone who will wait for what he thinks is popular sentiment and go with that. That he did this in this case is fantastic, and yes, I believe it will change things for the better. I'd be worried, however, that this appealing to perceived popular sentiment would be followed in other areas that would be detrimental to society and so on.

Eve_Dublin

Toby Take a Bow wrote: »

I'd vote socialist too, so whoever's in power is never really going to appeal with me, so yeah, what was said was a good thing to be said, but I'd never really trust someone who issues a statement like that only after the fact. I'd prefer Kenny to stick by his right-wing ideas so that we know what to expect, rather than someone who will wait for what he thinks is popular sentiment and go with that. That he did this in this case is fantastic, and yes, I believe it will change things for the better. I'd be worried, however, that this appealing to perceived popular sentiment would be followed in other areas that would be detrimental to society and so on.

What he said HAD to be said and I personally don't care WHY he said it. How do we know what he said wasn't genuine and not just appealing to popular sentiment? I know what you're trying to say but isn't it nice that someone IS trying to appeal to the sentiment of the people that voted him in for a change? We've been essentially ignored for years and this is a breath of fresh air.

It's more than I expected from a conservative leader. Just because I agree with this move, doesn't mean I agree with him on everything he does because I don't. I don't agree with the man's politics generally, I just thought I'd dislike him more than I do (that's not to say I like or trust him).

Toby Take a Bow

Eve_Dublin wrote: »

I know what you're trying to say but isn't it nice that someone IS trying to appeal to the sentiment of the people that voted him in for a change? We've been essentially ignored for years and this is a breath of fresh air.

I agree with you, but leaving it to say it now smacks of waiting to see how the public feels before making your move. It's great that it was said, I applaud him for it, but my point would be that it doesn't make me think any better of him: if politicians are still refusing to call something when it's clearly wrong regardless of public opinion all the mess that we're in at the moment (sex abuse scandals, economic disaster) will continue to happen. But I guess that's a negative point of view, maybe he is different and we should probably judge him on his future actions, and see if this is the beginning of a different type of politics.

Da Shins Kelly

I've been very impressed with how he's been handling the Church child abuse scandals and the way he has stood up to the Vatican. That has marked him down as a good man, to me. Like you said, I wasn't expecting much, I thought he was spineless. He has proven me wrong on this issue anyway.

Agricola

Hes a politician. Whats to like. I save my loathing for FF these days. Im neutral.

RichieC

somewhere in the middle...