Kenny feels 'very different' as Taoiseach

Newly elected Taoiseach Enda Kenny admitted it felt "very different actually" after he received his honours from President Mary McAleese.

"But I hope I'm the same," the Mayo man quipped as he left Áras an Uachtaráin with his entourage.

Earlier, the beaming smile that broke out on Mr Kenny's face had said it all. He was finally Taoiseach.

Within seconds of receiving his credentials at the Áras he heard his new title for the first time.

"Taoiseach" shouted the pack of press photographers who had waited patiently for the formalities to end.

The realisation hit home. The father of the house, the longest serving TD in the country, had made it to the top.

Up until then, Mr Kenny had sat nervously in the fine surroundings of the State Reception Room.

He clasped his hands under the table as he anxiously watched the President pick up a pen and sign the Warrant of Appointment of Taoiseach.

The newly elected Taoiseach even looked a little lost at one stage, as if he should be doing more.

Just minutes earlier as he walked in to the Áras he joked he was going to sign on the line - but the most he managed to put his name to was the visitors book, which he signed as gaeilge as he arrived at the Phoenix Park.

As President McAleese and the country's new leader chatted and shook hands, Mr Kenny was finally presented with his long-awaited Seal of Office of Taoiseach and Seal of Government to Taoiseach.

His nerves turned to pride and Mr Kenny, who was first elected to the Dail in 1975 at the age 24, held up his honours.

His most avid supporters, his wife Fionnuala and their three teenage children Aoibhinn, Ferdia, and Naoise who had arrived in a separate people-carrier, remained in a nearby room during the brief two-and-a-half minute ceremony. The Kenny clan then relaxed over a cup of tea with Ms McAleese and her husband Dermot.

"Is it a good day for Ireland?" he was asked as he left half-an-hour later in his new State car to reveal his new Cabinet in the Dail.

"I hope so, and I hope I can prove it," added Taoiseach Kenny.