New leader vows to hit ground running

Irish opposition leader Enda Kenny was poised to take power yesterday with a promise to move quickly on amending an unpopular international bailout after his Fine Gael party won historic elections.

Mr Kenny looks certain to be Taoiseach, or Prime Minister, after the ruling Fianna Fail party of incumbent Brian Cowen suffered a crushing defeat by voters angry at the collapse of their once-booming economy and the subsequent bailout.

But the 59-year-old Fine Gael leader told supporters in Dublin late Saturday there was “no time to lose, no hour to waste” as he confronted the challenges ahead, not least the form of the government he will lead.

The centrist party looks likely to fall short of a majority in the 166-seat Dail, the lower house of Parliament, and several top Fine Gael figures have indicated a coalition with the opposition Labour party was likely.

With 153 seats declared, Fine Gael had 70, Labour had 35 and the dramatic collapse of Fianna Fail, which has dominated Irish politics for 80 years, was underlined as it had just 18 seats.

Fianna Fail’s former coalition partners, the Green Party, also suffered, losing all of its six seats.

In addition, 17 independent and other lawmakers were elected and the republican Sinn Fein party almost tripled its seats to 13, including its president Gerry Adams, who enters the Dail for the first time.

Mr Kenny said he would be looking at his party’s options but stressed he would be “deciding on this very quickly”, saying it was important to international markets that Ireland had a “stable and strong government”.

He also vowed to move fast on a key campaign pledge to renegotiate the €85 billion bailout agreed with the European Union and International Monetary Fund in November, which many Irish see as a humiliation.

“We’re going to move on this next week, I’ve already had contacts with Europe this very day,” Mr Kenny said in his first post-election TV interview.

Fine Gael director of elections Phil Hogan predicted yesterday his party would get about 77 seats, short of a majority. He refused to comment on a coalition beyond saying Fine Gael had “common ground” with other parties.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said his party was “willing” to form a coalition government but said no talks had started yet. “The initiative rests with Fine Gael, that’s a call they have to make,” he told RTE television.