Politics

Fine Gael's Enda Kenny hands in resignation to president after six years as taoiseach

President Michael D Higgins and wife Sabina Coyne watch outgoing taoiseach Enda Kenny, centre, leaving Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin, on his last day as taoiseach PICTURE: Brian Lawless/PA
President Michael D Higgins and wife Sabina Coyne watch outgoing taoiseach Enda Kenny, centre, leaving Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin, on his last day as taoiseach PICTURE: Brian Lawless/PA President Michael D Higgins and wife Sabina Coyne watch outgoing taoiseach Enda Kenny, centre, leaving Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin, on his last day as taoiseach PICTURE: Brian Lawless/PA

ENDA Kenny has said he hopes his legacy as taoiseach will be marked by a modest contribution to improving the country.

In a somewhat reluctant and humble valedictory address to the Dáil, Mr Kenny said he accepted he had made mistakes but that he always had people's best interests at heart.

"This has never been about me... it has always been about the problems and challenges that the people of our country face," he said.

Mr Kenny's speech marked his long-awaited resignation as leader of the Republic's minority government after six years in the role.

As part of his last day in office, the veteran Fine Gael TD hosted a cabinet meeting for the final time in Government Buildings before calling on President Michael D Higgins with a formal letter of resignation.

On his way to Áras an Uachtaráin, he stopped off in Dublin's north inner city – an area blighted by high unemployment and gangland violence.

A message was posted on Mr Kenny's Twitter feed to say the stop-off was to assure the community he is moving on but the government remains committed to regeneration.

Mr Kenny told colleagues that he would have preferred to have left office quickly and quietly.

"The prospect of making a speech or listening to them, either of glorification or flagellation, is not something that I really relish," he said.

He recalled the will of Michael Davitt. The 19th century republican, agrarian campaigner and founder of the Irish National Land League said he left "kind thoughts" to his friends, forgiveness to others and an "undying prayer" to Ireland for "absolute freedom and independence".

"I hope that in the two governments I have led that we have made a modest contribution towards that ambition," Mr Kenny said.

Mr Kenny, from Castlebar, Co Mayo, took over as Fine Gael leader in 2002 after the party suffered near annihilation at the polls.

He is credited with steadily rebuilding support and, after surviving a leadership heave in 2010, he led it to its best ever election result in early 2011.

Mr Kenny is also the only Fine Gael leader to be re-elected taoiseach.

Among some episodes that will be remembered are his unprecedented attack on the Vatican over clerical child abuse cover-ups.

But his two governments will be marked out for the failure to comprehend and quell fears over water charges and the inability to react quickly and efficiently to a spiralling homelessness crisis, which has left unprecedented numbers of families living in hotel rooms.

Mr Kenny's tenure will also be known for the welter of controversies, which have rocked the Garda, none more so than the controversial departure of commissioner Martin Callinan, who announced his retirement after a late-night call to his house by a senior civil servant.

He secured the job of taoiseach in early 2011 and led a coalition government with Labour as the country suffered under penal tax rises, pay cuts and wider austerity imposed to meet the conditions of multibillion euro bailout loans from Europe and the International Monetary Fund.

Mr Kenny was still at the helm when the so-called Troika left Ireland in 2013 but the much-vaunted debt write-downs that he and his colleagues promised never materialised with any real substance.

Among his other legacies will be leading the country when same-sex marriage was introduced.

Reflecting on his career, Mr Kenny said: "For my own part I am the first to acknowledge I have not got everything right. But I can honestly say my motivation was always what I believed to be in the best interest of the Irish people."

He said he understands people's disillusionment with politics but said that cynicism is the easy answer.

"I really do believe that politics is work worth doing, a noble profession," he said.

"Despite the many scandals and disappointments, I believe that the vast majority of people elected to this House are here because we've an interest in and a love for our communities and our country and we wish to make a difference."

Mr Kenny urged more respect among politicians.

"We can argue vehemently the merits of issues or measures without questioning each other's motives or intent."

Mr Kenny resigned as Fine Gael leader in May to make way for his successor.

Although long-awaited, the transition of power has been relatively smooth, with Leo Varadkar securing resounding support in a leadership contest, including huge backing among his parliamentary colleagues.

Mr Varadkar, Ireland's first openly gay cabinet minister and the son of an Indian doctor, will be nominated as taoiseach in the Dáil today before he travels to meet President Higgins in Áras an Uachtaráin, where he will be given his seal of office.

He appointed his rival for the job, Simon Coveney, as deputy leader of the party ahead of a series of announcements on cabinet positions.

In his farewell address, Mr Kenny also paid tribute to the Labour Party, which supported his first coalition government, and to Micheál Martin, the leader of the main opposition party Fianna Fáil, as it supports the sitting minority government.