Uneasy truce lingers over Faithlegg reunion

THOSE expecting fear and loathing in Faithlegg would have been disappointed, but the Fine Gael “family” is certainly still not back to normal quite yet.

But then “normal” for this party is losing elections, whining from the sidelines and bitching about whichever leader they happen to be plotting against at the time.

Ironically, yesterday saw Fianna Fáil excitedly open the last stretch of the M9 motorway to Waterford – the final piece of a squandered boom from a Government stuck on the road to nowhere.

It cut an hour off the journey time back to Dublin for Fine Gaelers desperate to escape their enforced 24-hour get together in Faithlegg – but where exactly are they headed?

The Enda-nistas and the rebels have declared an uneasy, resigned, truce – for now. But that all hinges on just how much longer this crippled Government can stagger on for, with an angry electorate baying for blood behind it – and whether Mr Kenny can rally in the polls against the Labour surge.

His masterful put-down of the hapless shadow cabinet coup bought Mr Kenny a free pass, but only until the new year, and only if he does not suffer the ignominy of looking as if he is dragging the party brand down with him as the national poll approaches.

Even the rebels admit Heave II depends on Richard Bruton scraping himself off the ground and re-leading the charge.

But it was Bruton’s mild mannered meekness that scuppered his ill-planned, ill-advised attempted putsch in June and he has declared repeatedly he will have no hand, act or part in any such unpleasantness against Mr Kenny again.

But the anti-Endas are pinning their hopes on Fianna Fáil dumping Brian Cowen ahead of their election date with doom in order to salvage some kind of self respect under Brian Lenihan or Micheál Martin.

But that depends on either Cabinet minister being willing to lead his party into almost certain defeat, and the electorate buying the cynical dumping of Mr Kenny so close to polling day.

This being Fine Gael, a PLU – people like us – aspect runs through their thinking as they suggest their middle-class supporters are less tribal and more volatile than the ex-Fianna Fáil voting block which has now switched en-masse to Labour, and even cutting Mr Kenny loose a month before polling day will do them nothing but good.

However, the recent example of Australia, where Labor ditched its unpopular prime minister in favour of brand spanking new Julia Gillard in the run-up to a tricky general election backfired spectacularly and ended up with the country’s first minority government in 70 years.

Rebels say the atmosphere in the party is even worse than in June and now conservatives are also seeing Kenny as a liability as they search for the three swing votes to overturn the leader’s slender 38-32 victory in the confidence show-down.

Endanistas dismiss such talk as the ramblings of a rump who will never accept Mr Kenny’s credentials as leader even if he could certify Fine Gael winning every single seat in the Dáil next time out.

They insist Mr Kenny will grow into the role of national leader in the same way that opposition figures like Bertie Ahern, and in Britain David Cameron, did after initially being dismissed as lightweights.

Fine Gael leave Faithlegg still on course for their first election victory in 28 years – but don’t expect the Blueshirts to make it easy for themselves.