TAOISEACH ENDA Kenny is to make a “state of the nation” address on television in advance of the December 6th budget, Fine Gael sources said last night.
Speaking after a well-attended meeting of the parliamentary party, the sources said Mr Kenny had made the announcement in the course of a lengthy speech on the economic situation.
It is understood he will seek time from RTÉ over the coming weeks to give the speech, which is expected to focus on the state of the public finances and the need to make sacrifices to restore Ireland’s economic independence.
One source quoted the Taoiseach as saying: “There must be a clear explanation to the people what our strategy is and the importance of the European project.”
Reference was made from the floor to Mr Kenny's article in the Opinion page of yesterday's Irish Timesand he was encouraged to put a similar message across in the broadcast media.
In the article, the Taoiseach argued that the Republic could not follow Greece into default on debts as this would be disastrous for Ireland’s incipient recovery.
“While we have a long way to go, we have made a decent start and are now on the right track,” he wrote.
“The deal agreed by EU leaders last Thursday morning is another step in the right direction. It is intended to avert a banking crisis and another recession in our biggest European trading partners, thus allowing our export-led recovery to continue,” the article continued.
The presidential election was discussed. It was not the main item at the meeting but about 20 speakers reportedly made points about various aspects of the campaign. The unsuccessful Fine Gael candidate, Dublin MEP Gay Mitchell was not in attendance but one of his rivals for the nomination, Ireland East MEP Mairéad McGuinness was present and took part in the discussion.
Sources said Galway East TD Paul Connaughton Jr said the party should “move on” rather than dwelling on the Fine Gael performance.
However, it is understood Mayo TD Michelle Mulherin said there was a need to carry out an analysis of the result, particularly in view of the amount of money the party had spent on the campaign.
Mr Kenny made only a brief reference to the election, thanking Mr Mitchell for his hard work in the campaign.
In a statement issued afterwards, parliamentary party chairman Charlie Flanagan said the lessons of the presidential campaign would be digested and taken on board. He said the presidential campaign had been discussed at the meeting, but it was far from the dominant item on the agenda.
“The party has discussed the matter, and a number of different views were expressed. As is customary after each election – good, bad or indifferent – I have been commissioned, as director of elections, to prepare a report on the campaign. I will do this in the coming weeks.
“I hasten to add that the situation in Greece and the euro zone crisis is of far more concern to Fine Gael parliamentary party members and the general public. This was discussed in far more depth tonight, and remains the primary concern of anyone who has Ireland’s best interests at heart,” the statement said.
