FINE GAEL leader Enda Kenny’s declared supporters on the front bench were vocal in backing him yesterday.
A number of other party frontbenchers kept their counsel when asked about a potential challenge from deputy leader Richard Bruton.
The Fine Gael press office released a short statement from Simon Coveney, calling for party unity in the aftermath of The Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll which last week showed Fine Gael in second place to Labour and Mr Kenny's personal rating down seven points to 24 per cent.
The statement said Mr Coveney cautioned “against overreacting to a single opinion poll result”.
The party should face challenges in a “united fashion” and concentrate on its response to the Government’s motion of confidence in Taoiseach Brian Cowen, he said.
Backing Mr Kenny on the record were Phil Hogan, Paul Kehoe, Alan Shatter, Dr James Reilly, Charlie Flanagan, Jimmy Denihan, Michael Ring and Senator Frances Fitzgerald.
Brian Hayes and Leo Varadkar had no comment, while Olivia Mitchell, Michael Creed, Olwyn Enright, Billy Timmins, Denis Naughten and Fergus O’Dowd could not be contacted. Mr Bruton himself would not comment.
Mr Kehoe said no one he had spoken to wanted a leadership challenge. “Anyone I’ve been speaking to doesn’t want this. They are committed behind Enda Kenny. No one wants to go back to the bad old days of Fine Gael. No one wants to undo the absolutely Trojan work Enda Kenny has done over the last eight years”.
He stressed his belief that younger members of the parliamentary party did not want Mr Kenny’s capabilities called into question.
Mr Shatter said his view was that Mr Kenny as leader and Mr Bruton as deputy leader “make a great team”. He said whoever was expressing unease through the media was distracting attentionfrom other issues, such as Fianna Fáil’s low showing in the opinion poll.
Mr Bruton has been accused of failing to endorse Mr Kenny enthusiastically in recent media appearances. However, Mr Flanagan said: “Richard didn’t hide his ambition. I can’t see myself saying anything different”.
Asked for his opinion of Mr Bruton, Dr Reilly said he had been “an excellent servant of Fine Gael and a great spokesman on finance”.
Jimmy Deenihan said he fully endorsed Mr Kenny and said “the party who is in real trouble after the poll is Fianna Fáil”. Fine Gael should be exploiting that and the tensions between Fianna Fáil and the Greens, he added.
“Enda has my support. All of us on the front bench – we all have to work harder.” He said Mr Kenny “has the skills to make a good taoiseach”. He had built up the party, was great with people and was a great motivator and great at encouraging people, he said.
Michael Ring said: “I am supporting Enda Kenny, no question about it. He’ll lead us into the next election.”
Ms Fitzgerald backed Mr Kenny on The Week in Politicsprogramme on RTÉ One last night.
One frontbench spokesman who declined to be named said: “It’s now or never for Richard. It has to end, one way or the other. We can’t be having the same discussion after every poll. In two weeks there’s another poll. People will have to come out and say we have confidence in Enda or we don’t.”
Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins dismissed suggestions that Mr Bruton would challenge for the leadership. “I don’t think anybody with the integrity of Richard Bruton would do this.”