Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny is due to arrive back in his home constituency of Castlebar in Co Mayo later this afternoon, after winning the vote of confidence yesterday.
Mr Kenny has postponed a frontbench reshuffle planned for next Monday, saying he wanted to appoint people who had spoken against him as well as for him during the five-hour meeting of the party’s 70 TDs, MEPs and Senators.
Speaking on RTÉ radio this morning, fellow Mayo TD Michael Ring said he hoped Mr Kenny would select some of the party members who had backed former deputy leader and finance spokesman Richard Bruton.
"Enda Kenny needs to pick from the strongest team we have now and I'm hoping that some of the people who voted against him yesterday will be on the front bench,” he said. “There's some very fine talent and these are people I believe should be on the front bench and will be,” he added.
Elsewhere, Ireland East MEP Mairead McGuinness said today she believed Mr Kenny had shown he was capable of showing courage at times of difficulty. She said his speech to Fine Gael members at yesterday’s meeting had stirred party members. “It was extraordinary…even those who still voted against him stood to honour his words,” she said.
There were 49 speakers at the meeting with Mr Kenny speaking at the beginning and the end. His winding up speech was said by supporters to have been powerful and to have left some of them in tears.
Speaking outside Leinster House after the meeting Mr Kenny said he was “thrilled and very relieved” the motion of confidence in him had been endorsed by the parliamentary party. “We move on from here as a completely united party even though we had a vote on this issue. Our priority now is to have a general election as soon as possible, to have our party move forward – address the issues, concerns and anxieties that affect the Irish people in a country that is almost bankrupt,” he said.
He added that he would take some time to consider the talent within the party and would take account of the suggestions made during the meeting from people on both sides before making a decision.
“I want to take some time to consider all of the talents that we have. I want to talk to lots of people, and I want to put out a team that will reflect the mood of that meeting and the recommendations that were made to me by speakers, both on my own behalf and against the motion of confidence.”
After the meeting Mr Bruton said the decision of the parliamentary party had to be respected and that it was now up to the members to unite behind Mr Kenny as leader.
Mr Kenny will lead a party delegation on a visit to Belfast next Monday. They will meet Secretary of State Owen Paterson MP, First Minister Peter Robinson and the leaders of the other political parties in Northern Ireland.
Mr Kenny will be accompanied by a number of colleagues from the Fine Gael group on the British Irish Parliamentary Body including its vice-chairman Seymour Crawford TD, along with Fergus O’Dowd TD, Brian Hayes TD, Joe McHugh TD and Seán Kelly MEP.