Cruises To Ireland

Government cruises through first 100 days but stormy waters lie ahead this autumn

ANALYSIS:  The new Government is still enjoying its honeymoon, but it has barely scratched the surface of what needs to be done to put us on the road to recovery, writes STEPHEN COLLINS,  Political Editor

IT HAS been roses all the way for Enda Kenny and his Government for the first 100 days but the big, hard decisions have yet to be made. The Fine Gael-Labour Coalition started off with the advantage of being able to draw on a huge well of goodwill from an electorate desperate for a new beginning.

The cathartic decision of the voters on February 25th to punish Fianna Fáil for being in power for so long transformed the political landscape in one fell swoop.

That left the incoming Government with a massive majority and the freedom to take whatever decisive action it deemed necessary. The fact that the honeymoon is still in full swing 100 days on is a testament to just how much the country needed a change of government. It may also be a sign that the new Government has barely started scratching the surface of what needs to be done to put us on the road to recovery.

One of the big surprises is that Enda Kenny, who was perceived for so long as the main weakness of Fine Gael, has turned out to be the Val Doonican of Irish politics: an overnight success after 35 years in the business.

His legions of media critics haven’t gone away and are waiting to pounce on any perceived faux pas but the public seems happy with his performance. To have a leader who smiles as he walks to work in the morning, emitting a palpable sense of optimism is a welcome relief to an electorate battered by nearly three years of bad news.

Kenny has turned out to be a far better Dáil performer as Taoiseach than he ever was in opposition. He has had the advantage of a fractured Opposition but then again few would have believed a few months ago that he would be able to handle Micheál Martin, Gerry Adams and the Joe Higgins/ Shane Ross double act with such ease.

Kenny also had the good fortune to be in power when Queen Elizabeth made her historic first visit to the State and, as if that wasn’t enough, President Barack Obama came hot on her heels to add to the gaiety of the nation.

The net effect was to take the mind of the country off the litany of woes that has absorbed it for the past two years. That in itself has given the country a lift for the first 100 days of the Coalition.

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