Opinion

Enda Kenny's place in history

Enda Kenny's remarkable political career has taken him from a lengthy period of relative obscurity on the back benches to becoming the longest serving Fine Gael taoiseach in history and also, having been first elected back in 1975, to be officially regarded as the `Father of the Dail.'

He had to survive many challenges, both internal and external, during his term of office, as well as inheriting a financial crisis of enormous proportions when he came to power in 2011, and somehow always managed to find his own way of coping with one crisis after another.

Mr Kenny did not spend as much time dealing with northern developments as some of his predecessors but certainly provided a stabilising influence during the Brexit upheavals of recent months.

The announcement of his retirement yesterday, at the age of 66, had been widely anticipated and the tributes which were paid to him from across the political divide were well deserved.