Enda’s contract built on shaky foundations

IN the course of an election campaign, promises are made that are sometimes difficult to keep, and I note that on at least two issues — delivery of new hospital beds and gardaí — Fine Gael’s numbers are being contested already as either unattainable, unbudgeted or both.

The difficulty for Enda Kenny is that a few weeks ago, I watched him stand up at his party’s árd fheis and give a solemn commitment — a contract in fact — that if he didn’t deliver in key areas like these, he would not stand again for election as Taoiseach in five years’ time — a much more serious pledge.

If such headline figures are in dispute already, how much credibility can we lend to the Fine Gael contract; and if that party’s entire election campaign revolves around its leader’s solemn pledge, what sort of shaky foundation does it stand on now?