“I no longer have confidence in the ability of Enda Kenny TD to lead Fine Gael”

Fine Gael TD, Alan Farrell is the latest to declare no confidence in Enda Kenny;

Unfortunately, I no longer have confidence in the ability of Enda Kenny TD to lead Fine Gael and I believe his position is now untenable.

Fine Gael, as a party in Government, requires a leader who can manage the party in a manner which inspires faith amongst the Parliamentary Party, our local representatives and the wider membership.

I wish the acknowledge Enda Kenny’s unwavering commitment to public service and to working in the best interests of our society and the Irish public. While I sincerely thank An Taoiseach for the work he has done in rebuilding our party since becoming leader in 2002 and even more so for his incredible stewardship of the country since 2011, I believe it is now time for him to step aside and allow a new leader, with a fresh approach, to lead us into the future.

We must be prepared to tackle the challenges which arise in our society. In doing so we require a leader who can lead with confidence, and highlight how the values and principles of Fine Gael can best benefit our society and every community across our country.

Over the last number of days, we as a party have stumbled from one crisis to another, highlighting how fragile our arrangement as a minority Government is. Not only were we close to an election once, I firmly believe we came close three times. If anything should be learned from the events of the last few days it is that we must be ready for an election at any time.

In order to do that, we must have a new leader in place who will inject a new impetus and provide a new direction for Fine Gael.

As the co-author of a recent internal party report, I am very much in tune with the feelings and position of our membership, right across the country. A week does not go by that a further comment from another constituency arrives. In a democratic organisation, that is not healthy and thus, I reluctantly withdraw my support for the continued tenure of Enda Kenny TD as leader of Fine Gael.

David McCann

David McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs