A lot done but a lot was left undone - Changing of the guard

ENDA KENNY will resign as Taoiseach today, bringing to an end a journey that began in 1975 when he was elected to Dáil Éireann to succeed his father, Henry. 

Though he travelled a well-trodden path — he was the 36th TD to take his father’s seat — he became just the 13th person to be Taoiseach, the 14th if you include WT Cosgrave, president of the executive council and first leader of an independent Irish government.

At this remove, as house prices soar and as the air crackles with talk of pay restoration, it is easy to forget how close to ruin our economy was when he was appointed Taoiseach by President McAleese in March 2011. Our economy had imploded and we were rescued by the very expensive kindness of autocratic strangers. That none of the architects of that pillaging have faced any real consequences is a blot on Mr Kenny’s record. It may seem churlish this morning to start at this point but that episode is symbolic of his governments’ failure to tackle the white-collar crime so well recorded by one tribunal after another. If we are to celebrate his achievements, and they are considerable, it is fair to point out that the grand promises of reform, promises that the culture of public life would be remade, have not materialised. The deep dysfunction in our health services, our police and housing market cannot be brushed under the carpet no matter how blue. An unchallenged establishment prevailed and prevails.