Enda must leave now or he will tarnish his reputation forever

If he tries for a long goodbye, or even no goodbye at all, he puts himself at the mercy of the next crisis, writes Fergus Finlay

I’M FEARFUL for Enda. I think he may be on the verge of a mistake that will damage his reputation. He may be thinking, “I was such a success in America that they’re going to let me keep on going”. If he does think that, he is going to prove Enoch Powell right once again. It was Powell, after all, who said “all political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs.”

It was always the case, I think, that Enda had a plan to see a power-sharing administration formed again in Northern Ireland, and to be present at the European Council meeting that signed off on the negotiating response to the British triggering of Article 50. Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon specifies that a country that wants to withdraw from the European Union must notify the European Council of its intention. Enda is one of the most senior members of the Council, and wants to be there when the formal notification arrives.