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Enda Kenny announces resignation as Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny announces resignation as Fine Gael leader
(about 1 hour later)
Ireland’s prime minister, Enda Kenny, is to step down as leader of his Fine Gael party on Wednesday night, clearing the way for Ireland to have a new head of government. Ireland’s prime minister, Enda Kenny, is stepping down as the leader of his Fine Gael party, triggering a leadership contest.
In a statement to colleagues in Dublin, Kenny said he was retiring from midnight with his successor to be in place on 2 June. Kenny told his colleagues at a meeting of his parliamentary party in Dublin that he was retiring at midnight on Wednesday, and that he expected a successor to be in place by 2 June.
“I want to assure people that throughout this internal process, I will continue to carry out my duties and responsibilities as taoiseach in full,” he said. The 66-year-old former teacher, born in Mayo, is the longest-serving member of the Irish parliament, having first been elected in 1975. He has led the centre-right Fine Gael party for 15 years and been prime minister since 2011.
The veteran politician, from Castlebar, County Mayo, is to resign after 15 years at the helm of the party and more than six years at the head of government. Kenny has served as acting PM since March, when he tendered his resignation amid growing internal party pressure to stand down over his failure to secure a majority government in the general election in 2016.
Kenny revealed his decision to stand down at a private meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party and after delaying the announcement for several months. Kenny stayed in his post after the election thanks to the support of a range of independent MPs and the tacit backing of Fine Gael’s major rival opposition party, Fianna Fáil.
In the statement he added: “I would like to stress the huge honour and privilege that it has been for me to lead our party for the past 15 years, in opposition and into government on two successive occasions. I thank all our members, past and present for that privilege.”More details soon … The contest to succeed Kenny will start on Thursday - far earlier than expected. The two frontrunners to be the country’s next PM are minister for social protection Leo Vradkar, who is gay and the son of an Indian immigrant, and Simon Coveney, who has served as the defence minister and whose father was also a government minister.
In what was described as an emotional parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday afternoon, Kenny is reported to have asked: “Is it ok if I go now?”
When Kenny came to power in 2011 Ireland was still suffering from a deep recession caused by the global financial crash and the collapse of the Celtic Tiger economy. He is credited with leading the country out of recession and driving down the national debt, albeit with an austerity agenda that saw big cuts in welfare, health, education and policing.
He told his party he would remain as leader for a “brief but appropriate period” to facilitate a leadership contest.
“I would like to stress the huge honour and privilege that it has been for me to lead our party for the past 15 years, in opposition and into government on two successive occasions,” Kenny said in a statement. “I thank all our members, past and present, for that privilege.”
Cliona Doyle, chair of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, paid tribute to Kenny: “Having inherited a country and an economy that was decimated by mismanagement, Enda’s strong leadership and ability to make hard decisions was recognised both at home and abroad and saw our international reputation restored and strengthened.”
Kenny’s successes as PM included his backing for a historic referendum on gay marriage, apologies for victims of clerical abuse and his apparent willingness to stand up to the Vatican, and legislating for abortion in limited circumstances.
Failures include an inability to convince the public on water-metering and charges, painful tax hikes, unprecedented homelessness and a series of damaging police corruption crises.
Gerry Adams, the Sinn Féin president, said Kenny “did his best from his perspective”, but added that his “political legacy is dominated by crisis, chaos, and chronic lack of accountability”.