Enda Kenny, TD
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Political party	Fine Gael
Spouse	Fionnuala O'Kelly
Religion	Roman Catholic

For the Australian singer of the same name, see Enda Kenny (singer)

Enda Kenny (Irish: Éanna Ó Cionnaith; born 24 April, 1951), an Irish politician, is the 10th leader of the Fine Gael party and Leader of the Opposition in Dáil Éireann. He has been a Teachta Dála for Mayo since 1975, having succeeded his father Henry Kenny. Kenny has previously served as Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 to 1997.

Early and private life

Enda Kenny was born in Castlebar, County Mayo in 1951. The third child in a family of five, he was educated locally at St. Patrick's national school in Cornanool and St. Gerald's College (De La Salle) in Castlebar. Kenny later attended St. Patrick's Teacher Training College in Dublin and University College Galway. He later worked as a primary school teacher.

Kenny has been married to Fionnuala O'Kelly since 1992 and the couple have three children. The couple met in Leinster House where O'Kelly worked, ironically, as a press officer for Fianna Fáil. She later worked with Radio Telefís Éireann.

Kenny is also a keen supporter of his native Mayo Gaelic football team. His father, Henry Kenny, won an All-Ireland medal with the inter-county team in 1936.

Early political career

From an early age Kenny was exposed to politics as his father, Henry Kenny, became a Fine Gael TD in 1954. In the early 1970s he became directly involved in politics when he started helping his father with constituency clinics. In 1975 Henry Kenny, who was at this stage a Parliamentary Secretary in the government, died after a short battle with cancer. The Fine Gael party wanted one of his sons to stand as their candidate in the subsequent by-election, and so Enda Kenny was chosen. He was elected by a landslide, and at 24 he was one of the youngest TDs in the Dáil.

Kenny remained on the backbenches of the Dáil for almost a decade. He was appointed party spokesperson firstly on youth affairs and sport, then western development, however, he failed to build a national profile as he concentrated more on constituency matters. Kenny was left out in the cold when Garret FitzGerald became Taoiseach for the first time in 1981 and again in 1982. He was, however, appointed as a member of the Fine Gael delegation at the New Ireland Forum in 1983 and later served on the British-Irish Parliamentary Association. In 1986 he became a Minister of State at the Departments of Education and Labour, however, his short stay here was regarded as uneventful. Fine Gael lost the 1987 general election resulting in Kenny being confined to the opposition benches for the next seven years. In spite of this his national profile was raised as he served in a number of positions on the party's front bench, including Education, Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands. He was also the Fine Gael Chief Whip for a short period.

Government Minister

In late 1994 the Fianna Fáil-Labour Party government collapsed, however, no general election was called. Instead a Fine Gael-Labour Party-Democratic Left "Rainbow Coalition" came to power. Kenny, as Fine Gael chief whip, was a key member of the team that negotiated the programme for government with the other two parties prior to the formation of the new government. Under Taoiseach John Bruton Kenny joined the cabinet and was appointed Minister for Tourism and Trade. During his tenure as minister, Ireland saw a significant growth in tourism business and it's trade position internationally. As minister he chaired the European Union Council of Trade Ministers during Ireland's six month Presidency of the European Council as well as co-chairing a round of the World Trade Organisation talks in 1996. Among Kenny's other achievements were the rejuvenation of the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin and the successful negotiations to bring a stage of the 1998 Tour de France to Ireland. In 1997 the government was defeated in the general election and Kenny returned to the Opposition benches.

Fine Gael leader

In 2001 John Bruton resigned as leader of Fine Gael following a vote of no confidence in his ability. Kenny was one of a number of candidates who stood in the subsequent leadership election, promising to "electrify the party". In the final ballot it was Michael Noonan who emerged victorious (it is Fine Gael's custom not to publish ballot results for leadership elections). Noonan subsequently failed to give a spokesperson's assignment to Kenny.

In the 2002 general election Fine Gael suffered its worst electoral performance ever, managing to lose 23 seats, a figure larger than expected with its overall vote down 5%. Kenny himself came close to losing his seat and even went so far as to prepare a concession speech. In the end he won the third seat in the constituency. Michael Noonan resigned as leader on the night of the result, an action which triggered another leadership election. Protest meetings were held by members of the party against the speed for the leadership election and the failure to broaden the franchise to the membership. It was suggested that it was foolish to choose a leader before conducting an electoral post-mortem.

Kenny once again contested the leadership and emerged successful on that occasion. On becoming leader he faced an unenviable task as his demoralised party faced the popular Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, with 31 TDs. In the beginning his leadership style was also criticised. The tide began to turn for Fine Gael in 2003 as the government's popularity took a downturn. Fine Gael's membership increased while the party became a much more united entity. Kenny's first major televised conference speech in November 2003 was well received by the media and, for many, marked a turn in Fine Gael's fortunes as it began to offer more vigorous opposition to Ahern's government .

Fine Gael out-performed expectations in the 2004 Local and European elections, which saw Fine Gael increase it representation from 4 MEPs of 15 from Ireland, to 5 from 13. This was the first time Fine Gael beat Fianna Fáil in a national election since 1927. The first stage of Fine Gael's comeback was complete.

In March 2006 he was elected Vice-President of the European People's Party (EPP), the largest European political family Fine Gael affiliates with. In his speech to the EPP he stated that Fine Gael would be in Government within 2 years.

2007 general election

Under Kenny the Fine Gael Party agreed to enter a pre-election pact with the Labour Party in order to offer the electorate an alternative coalition government at the 2007 general election of May 24, 2007. The so-called 'Mullingar Accord' was agreed in September 2004 following the European and Local elections that year. [1] The Green Party also signalled in the media to be in favour of membership of such a coalition government after the election. They have refused to commit to an agreement prior to polling day however.

Enda Kenny's leadership has attempted to define Fine Gael as a party of the progressive centre. Its policy initiatives have concentrated on value for money, consumer rights, civil partnerships, reform of public spending, reward and enterprise and preventative health care policy. The party has sought to retake its former mantle as the law and order party committed to defending the institutions of the state. At the Fine Gael Ard-fheis in March 2007 Kenny outlined his platform for the forthcoming general election entitled the 'Contract for a Better Ireland.'[2] The main aspects of this 'contract' included:

• 2,300 more hospital beds
• 2,000 more Gardaí
• Tougher jail sentences and tougher bail for criminals
• Free health insurance for all children under 16
• Lower income tax

The Fine Gael campaign was generally regarded as a well organised and energetic one which focussed on Kenny's strengths. The party leader toured every constituency and set the pace early on. However, by the end of the campaign Fianna Fáil found its feet and in the final week managed to turn the spotlight on Enda Kenny's lack of cabinet experience. Some regard this as the single factor which caused a sharp rise in Fianna Fáil support towards the end of the campaign. In particular, Bertie Ahern was perceived by many to have comfortably beaten Kenny in the pre-election Leaders' Debate. Nonetheless, the Fine Gael campaign was its most vibrant since 1982 when the party won 70 seats.

When the votes were counted it emerged that Fine Gael had made big gains, increasing its number of seats by twenty to give a total of 51 seats in the new Dáil. But Kenny's so-called 'Alliance for Change' would not have enough seats to form a majority in the new Dáil, as neither the Labour Party nor the Greens made gains. Despite predictions to the contrary, the Fianna Fáil vote recovered sufficiently to bring it to 78 seats, and a return to government for current Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. [3]

Kenny is currently the longest-serving TD in Dáil Éireann still in office. Thus, he is the incumbent Father of the Dáil.

External link

• Enda Kenny's website

Political career

Oireachtas
Preceded by Henry Kenny	Fine Gael Teachta Dála for Mayo West 1975–1997	Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Preceded by Newly created constituency	Fine Gael Teachta Dála for Mayo 1997 – present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by George Birmingham	Minister of State at the Department of Education 1986–1987	Succeeded by Frank Fahey
Minister of State at the Department of Labour 1986–1987	Succeeded by Office abolished
Preceded by Charlie McCreevy	Minister for Tourism & Trade 1994–1997	Succeeded by Jim McDaid
Preceded by Michael Noonan	Leader of the Fine Gael Party 2002–present	Incumbent
Leader of the Opposition 2002–present
Preceded by Séamus Pattison	Father of the Dáil 2007 – present	Incumbent

•  • [ e] Leaders of Fine Gael
Eoin O'Duffy (1933–1934) W. T. Cosgrave (1934–1944) Richard Mulcahy (1944–1959) James Dillon (1959–1965) Liam Cosgrave (1965–1977) Garret FitzGerald (1977–1987) Alan Dukes (1987–1990) John Bruton (1990–2001) Michael Noonan (2001–2002) Enda Kenny (2002–)