O’Dea brands Kenny a ‘vulgar puppet’

A MINISTER branded Edna Kenny a “vulgar puppet” jerked around by others as political summer sniping last night exploded into a full-blown war of words.

The Government and Fine Gael descended into trading personal insults, after Mr Kenny launched an all-out attack on the Taoiseach’s economic policies.

Defence Minister Willie O’Dea dubbed the leader of the opposition a “shallow” figure whose strings were pulled by others.

“This is the same old motley collection of tasteless, vulgar, personal insults — all this delivered by the same tired puppet with the same people in the background jerking his strings.

“It is sad indeed to reflect that, despite all the commentary, all the rhetoric, all the material available, the economic policy of the main opposition party in this country can be distilled down to two things — one, vulgar abuse and, second, the sacking of three junior ministers.

“A former English politician was once so kindly described as ‘a man of hidden shallows’. Unfortunately in Enda Kenny’s case the shallows are all too obvious.” the minister said.

He attempted to ridicule the FG leader by saying Mr Kenny aspired to be the “Dumbeldore of Castlebar”, waving a magic wand that will “instantly transform the Irish economy while the rest of the western world remains gripped by the sharpest economic downturn in recent history”.

The tirade was sparked by Mr Kenny’s speech to the Humbert Summer School in Mayo, in which he rounded on Brian Cowen’s performance as leader and blamed him for leading the country into recession.

“The problem is that this Government has been so long in power it has run out of imagination, innovation and creativity — like a rabbit caught in headlights, it does nothing, sees no possibilities,” he said.

Mr Kenny accused Mr Cowen of fooling voters and “buying” the last election.

“He was able to convince the public that he was a tough-talking action man, when, in fact, he was slavishly colluding in Bertie Ahern’s policy of appeasement, of caving in to one vested interest after another.

“He surrendered the future to buy the present. In good times, you can get away with that. In tough times, appeasement comes home to roost,” he said.

Labour deputy leader Joan Burton said the Taoiseach needed Dr Who’s time machine to make a fresh start and avoid the spectre of an international credit crunch, soaring energy prices and the construction slump.

“If Fianna Fáil put its reputation for competence up for sale on eBay today, I doubt if they could get a single serious bid,” she told the same summer school.

Ms Burton insisted the Taoiseach’s first 100 days in office demonstrated “his indecision, and his fatal tendency to make bad situations worse, as his handling of the Lisbon referendum displayed.”