FINE GAEL leader Enda Kenny has said his position is now more secure than before George Lee’s resignation.
Speaking at the start of a visit to the OECD headquarters in Paris yesterday, Mr Kenny said he was pleased with the endorsement he received from the party’s TDs and Senators on Wednesday.
“We had a very comprehensive discussion. The retirement of George Lee from politics was part of that, but in my view the real focus of this meeting was on the maturity of the Fine Gael party in the way it reacted to this particular incident.”
Mr Kenny was accompanied by members of Fine Gael’s economic team for two days of meetings with OECD officials.
The party was “stronger, more focused, more energetic and more united to take out the Government” after Wednesday’s meeting.
Before that meeting, Simon Coveney suggested there would be “obvious consequences” if the leader’s performance did not improve, but Mr Kenny yesterday declined to say how he felt about the remark other than to say the parliamentary party gave “a full endorsement and support to me in my leadership”.
More than 50 Fine Gael TDs and Senators spoke at the five-hour meeting on Wednesday evening. Forty-five members of the parliamentary party were still present when the meeting ended shortly after midnight.
Education spokesman Brian Hayes told the meeting that he had given five weeks as campaign manager for George Lee in the Dublin South byelection and felt badly let down by his decision to resign.
Mayo TD Michael Ring said that Mr Kenny was “better off” listening to the parliamentary party rather than being controlled by party officials.
Dublin South-East TD Lucinda Creighton complained that Mr Kenny had failed to respond to requests for his assistance in an internal party matter. Mr Kenny undertook to respond soon.
Deputy leader Richard Bruton focused on the challenges facing the country and reportedly urged his colleagues to “get on with the job” of replacing the Government.
Senior party sources said the general discussion was “very honest and truthful and straight” and was not in any way “vitriolic”. “Enda Kenny’s strengths and weaknesses were pointed out to him,” one source said.