Fine Gael will be left only with hard choices even after Enda Kenny departs

It could seek a coalition with Sinn Féin but that would require Napoleonic verve, writes Gerard Howlin

ENDA may tell his colleagues tonight he is off. The off may be sooner or later. But underlying the froth about runners and riders for the Fine Gael leadership is a deep conundrum.

Assuming a new leader generates a bounce in support and sustains it through a general election, Fine Gael is still left only with hard choices. That’s the benign scenario. If there is no bounce, it is hard to see there being any choice at all. When the 33rd Dáil meets after the next election, the determining factor will not be how well it did. A relatively good result only gets it to the starting line of government formation. The finishing line depends on its capacity to generate alliances with others, in a scenario where Fianna Fáil is unable or unwilling to do so.