Kenny: St Patrick’s Day trips ‘cynical swansong’

ST PATRICK’S DAY trips abroad by the Taoiseach and ministers would amount to “the most cynical swansong imaginable,” Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny last night warned.

Mr Kenny insisted it would not be acceptable for the Cabinet to try and use the annual ministerial exodus as a boost to Fianna Fáil’s election campaign.

Tension ahead of the looming poll heightened as Green minister Eamon Ryan indicated his party would back the Dáil showdown being held in March — despite the Greens insisting they wanted the election in late January when they announced their decision to collapse the coalition in the wake of the IMF bailout last November.