Fine Gael is united and he is the most capable person to lead it into government, party leader Enda Kenny tells Harry McGee
FINE GAEL leader Enda Kenny has said there is a possibility of him becoming taoiseach during 2009 or 2010 if the economy continues to deteriorate at a dramatic rate.
Mr Kenny also said that his party is "more united than ever" under his leadership and has fully recovered after "10 bruising years" when three general elections were lost.
In an interview with The Irish Times, he said that being judged and being criticised was part and parcel of political life. But he added that there were no questions or doubts about his ability to lead Fine Gael, or that others within the party
would make a more capable leader. "My style of leadership is not one of suppression, it's one of encouragement. It is one of putting people out front and picking a team of your best talents, adjusting them as the case might be.
"My effort has been to team build and let all these people who have ambition and talent and energy, let them vent that politically so that we can win the trust of the people and form the next government.
"You are judged. People always judge you. You are never going to be in a situation where you get absolutely satisfactory levels of support. That is what life is like. What I can say is that we encourage both talent and a professional team approach," he said.
The Green Party, he said, was unlikely to pull out of Government in the short term unless the economic and political situation became unbearable. "The likelihood is that they will stick on as a seamless part of the amorphous lump of Government. Unless things get really out of hand they have no option but to stay."
He said that when Brian Cowen became Taoiseach he had a very strong reputation which was built up on the back of enormous media coverage.
"Everything he has turned his hand to since becoming Taoiseach has turned into a disaster. Under his leadership Fianna Fáil seem to have lost the talent of understanding the consequences of political decisions.
"Fianna Fáil are reeling with the extent of what they now face. They have given up going to public meetings because they are being chewed alive," he claimed.
Mr Kenny said that he expects to become taoiseach whenever an election is called, be it in 2009 or 2010. He said that Mr Cowen's reputation "has imploded on him in so many ways that his own backbenchers are talking openly about their disappointment".
Mr Kenny said that the immediate priority for the Government should be a pay freeze in the public sector.
"You cannot make money for Ireland by selling houses to each other. You have to go back to the things that made the Celtic Tiger including low government costs, competitiveness, creativity in what we actually produce.
"That's why it's very important for us to demonstrate why we want to be part of the European market of 500 million people."
Asked about a perception that Mr Cowen has been dismissive and contemptuous of him during the leaders' questions debates in the Dáil, Mr Kenny said: "I don't personalise my comments about the Taoiseach. If he chooses to do something different, that's his prerogative."
"It's rough and tumble. This is not a hail-fellow-well-met supporters' club. This is a 15-round battle and I will defend my corner and I'm not afraid to do that."
On this year's local and European elections, the Fine Gael leader said his aim was to hold its five seats in Europe and consolidate the gains it made in the 2004 local elections.
He was also critical of Libertas founder Declan Ganley who he said might not have the courage to stand for the newly formed party in the North West constituency.
"European elections here are fought on the European election issues.
"If he stands, one of his fundamental remarks was that CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] is a weapon of mass destruction. Therefore, he is going to have to deal with the issues from suckler grants to REPS [Rural Environment Protection Scheme] grants and all the rest of it."
He said Mr Ganley could not use the elections as a proxy for the referendum on Lisbon because Ireland was having a second referendum.