Kenny has no regrets as Carrick speech receives standing ovation

Fine Gael leader gave a confident, often caustic performance during the final leg of his whistle-stop tour

FINE GAEL told no lies. The reservation of the hall was no last-minute job designed to thwart TV3. It was all of 10 days ago when the Bush Hotel in Carrick-on-Shannon, took a booking for the big function room for February 8th. So last night, they threw open the Orchard Room, the biggest one they have, with its springy dance floor and 300 soft, red and gold chairs lined up for the meeting billed as “town hall style”. What Fine Gael could not have known at the time was the pressure that would weigh on the leader to validate his decision to thumb his nose at TV3.

In short, he had set himself up in direct competition with the debate he had chosen to ignore. Maybe that’s why 15 minutes before kick-off, all the chairs were taken, with about 150 left standing at the back. At 8.30pm, they were still packing in.

It was due to start at 8pm. After 6pm, the leader was still haring around Longford Shopping Centre over 30km away, after an ear-shattering introduction by an explosively proud James Bannon.

At that stage, the team was 45 minutes behind schedule, but at 7.35pm the party leader arrived into the Bush function room, declaring “no regrets” about missing the TV3 exchange .

“Not a bit ... Let them all look forward to my participation in the three television debates because I’m going to make it worth their while,” he told a barrage of media. Wouldn’t it have been better all round if he had said a straight “no, can’t do it”, at the beginning, instead of word going out about “discussions” with TV3? “Now that we’re involved in European negotiations,” he grinned, “maybe I should remind you of Edith Piaf’s song Je ne Regrette Rien”. Not what you’d call an answer, exactly.

At about 8.35pm when TV3’s debate was under way, he was finally launching into a 40-minute speech, a reprise of Fine Gael’s five-point plan but capturing the audience’s rapt attention throughout with a confident, often caustic outline of where we are, occasionally drawing wry laughter, injecting a natural passion and human interest in a way rarely seen on camera.

“Maybe it’s that power suits him,” murmured a farmer, marvelling at what “the ring of power might do to a man, in a good way”. Frequent bursts of applause confirmed when he was pressing the right buttons: promises to make it easier to do business; to reduce public sector salaries at the highest level; to reduce the number of politicians and abolish the Seanad; to ban corporate donations; to cap tax relief for pensions; to abolish pensions for politicians before the national retirement age; to cut the number of ministerial cars; to oblige State board nominees to go before an Oireachtas committee and explain their “merits”. “The old ways are going to have to change. Ministers are going to be responsible for the portfolios that they hold.” “This country is not banjaxed,” he said, ending on an upbeat note. “It is possible to bring Ireland to being the best country in the world to do business. I want our people to be proud again,” he said, to a standing ovation.

Questions were invited, which looked unpromising to begin with when a senior citizen said his arthritis and rheumatism were feeling a lot better after that speech and another thanked him for a “very inspiring evening”.

But this was followed up with a question on mental health services, and a man who had lost a son to suicide said Enda Kenny had visited him within four hours of his son’s death and stayed for two and a half hours.

“I am very proud that he did not participate in that debate. I believe I would have to look at my position in Fine Gael if he participated in that debate.”

Kenny replied that “the unspeakable tragedy of suicide is very close to my heart and in respect of the 300,000 people who suffer from depression, it is an area that warrants analysis and focus”. There were questions about cancer services, the climate change Bill, flood management, child protection services and services for deaf children.

Everything remained upbeat and civilised until a man who identified himself as an unemployed roadsweeper called Bobby asked how precisely Enda planned to create jobs. Clearly unhappy with the answer, Bobby accused Kenny of “sidestepping the question”. “I can smell it from here,” he said. The audience remained sanguine until Bobby proved unable to make his point without repeating himself.

Kenny offered to meet him afterwards but to no avail. Bobby kept talking until the audience shouted “Out! Out! Out!”. After some persuasion, order resumed. It was meant to wrap up at 10pm, but was going strong at 10.30pm.