Kenny: Cowen led worst Government in memory
But he acknowledged that Mr Cowen was a politician of integrity, despite the fact Fine Gael disagreed with many decisions his administration had taken.
“Despite strongly disagreeing with many Government policies that the Taoiseach and his party have pursued, I have no doubt about his integrity as a person or as a politician,” he said.
But while the Taoiseach was not running in the election, his Fianna Fáil colleagues would have to be accountable to the electorate for their governance of the country, Mr Kenny warned.
“None of them will be able to dodge responsibility for driving Ireland into the arms of the IMF.”
Mr Kenny said Fine Gael had a sensible and credible plan for economic recovery that would “get Ireland working”.
nLabour leader Eamon Gilmore welcomed the fact that the people would finally get to have their say in an election that was “long overdue.”
Mr Gilmore said he and Mr Cowen had clashed often in “very robust debate,” adding: “He has always stood by his position and I have stood by mine, and now the time has come to put our case to the verdict of the people.”
Mr Gilmore said Ireland was a “great country with a great future” that could overcome its grave problems.
But the electorate had to decide which party would drive that process, he added.
In an attempt to carve out space for Labour, he claimed Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were essentially the same as they had agreed on major issues such as the bank guarantee scheme, claiming the two parties formed a “Celtic Tory consensus”.
Only Labour could lead real change, he added.
* Green leader John Gormley sought to emphasise the achievements of his party in Government, such as legislation paving the way for civil partnerships and reform of the planning process.
But he expressed regret that the Greens had been unable to achieve other key goals such as a climate change bill and legislation to ban corporate donations.
He stressed the need for a strong Green presence in the next Dáil to hold to account the likely new government of Fine Gael and Labour.
He also said it was very important that political reform take place urgently, suggesting the current system had failed people given that the spectre of emigration had returned.
Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said the Fianna Fáil-Green coalition had been “Tweedledum and Tweedledumber”.
He noted the fact that the Dáil was being dissolved on the same day as the minimum wage cut was coming into effect.
“That is just one of the ways the least well-off in society have been forced to pay for what I repeat are the disastrous decisions made by the outgoing Government,” he said.
