The cowardly, dictatorial leader who failed to lead

It was a move aimed at boosting his leadership credentials in opposition, and it has ultimately undermined his leadership credibility in Government.

The Taoiseach was right to describe the defeat of his proposal to abolish the Seanad in a referendum as a “wallop”. While he might be able to stumble back onto his own two feet for now, this is a blow that has the potential to unsteady him for the rest of his time in office.

For Enda Kenny, there is no hiding from the fact that this was his own personal proposition, announced as an edict to his Fine Gael party, but one on which he failed to show leadership when it really counted.

In what is now known as “the most expensive after-dinner speech in history”, he unveiled his plan in front of 1,200 party members at the Fine Gael presidential dinner in Oct 2009.

Reversing a party policy paper which months earlier had advocated Seanad reform, he said: “I believe the Seanad should be abolished, and the next Fine Gael government will put this to the people. I have come to the conclusion that a second House of the Oireachtas can no longer be justified.”

Fine Gael TDs greeted it with a modest applause, describing it afterwards as a “bolt from the blue”.

Some saw it as an opportunistic headline grab by Mr Kenny, who had been outflanked in opposition by Labour and Eamon Gilmore.

There was a second motive involved: The need for Mr Kenny to show strong leadership amid doubts over his ability to be Taoiseach at a time when Richard Bruton had the party leadership in his sights.

Mr Kenny partly admitted to this himself during an interview on RTÉ radio following the 2009 party presidential dinner, saying there was a requirement from all leaders to take leadership positions. “I have tried very hard to justify the existence of the Senate over a period... its legislative function has faded,” he said. “This is something I have been considering for some time.”

Jump forward four years, after the referendum has been defeated, and he is now being viewed as the leader who failed to lead.

His refusal to engage in meaningful debate on the issue was damaging, not just because the final count was so close and he may have convinced a couple of thousand more people to vote yes, but because it played into accusations that he has a dictatorial style and that the man who promised a “democratic revolution” shies away from accountability.

This notion had taken hold during his handling of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act, when he sacked TDs and senators who voted against the Government and told them they would not run for the party again.

On top of this came the controversy when an RTÉ journalist was prevented from recording a public meeting that the Taoiseach attended on the Seanad, and where he responded to protesters by shouting “Up the Dubs”.

His failure to appear on TV debates on the issue compounded the mistrust and suspicion about a Government campaign based on a simplistic and cynical argument of saving €20m and having “fewer politicians”.

He also failed to offer a convincing explanation as to why he would not take part in such a debate. When asked why by Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, Mr Kenny responded “because I don’t want to embarrass you”.

He said the floor of the Dáil was the appropriate place for the issue to be discussed. But Mr Kenny only made one Dáil speech on the abolition of the Seanad, on Jun 13. He said he wanted to “put people’s faith and hope back in Irish politics”. He made another speech in the Seanad on Jun 26, but both involved scripted speeches without any opportunities for questions.

Fine Gael instead relied on banging home the message that abolishing the Seanad would save €20m. The independent Referendum Commission said this could not be verified, leading to accusations of lies from the no side.

Through a cynical, populist campaign relying on a savings figure that was seriously in doubt, coupled with his failure to engage, and his failure to counter the “power-grab” accusations, Mr Kenny damaged the trust the people had put in him.

He finds himself open to accusations of being both dictatorial and cowardly at the same time, and faces a somewhat impossible task of projecting an image of a strong leader without being heavy-handed.

Mr Kenny will find himself under strong pressure to introduce more meaningful political reform that will rebalance power away from central government.

A lot of this pressure is likely to come from his own backbenchers, who were less than impressed with Dáil reform plans announced during the referendum campaign. But questions around how we are governed, and if the executive is too powerful, will enter mainstream debate. It is unlikely that Mr Kenny or his Cabinet will come out on the winning side.

There is no immediate threat to Kenny’s position arising from the weekend result, but there is no doubt that his credibility and authority have been seriously undermined, and he has lost the trust of the Irish people just two weeks before he tries to convince them of the fairness of another austerity budget.