Kenny fails Collins’ test

As Enda Kenny will become the first sitting Taoiseach to give the address at Béal na Bláth tomorrow, it is worth asking if he is a suitable person to do so.

What would Mr Collins have made of Mr Kenny, who in 40 years in politics has failed to achieve what Mr Collins did in one year? What would Mr Collins make of the wealth accumulated at the public expense by people like Mr Kenny, or by his tax free expense claims, making him far richer than what Mr Kenny’s limited talents would have earned him in the real world?

Mr Kenny became Taoiseach of a bankrupt country in Mar 2011 and his very first act was to double his salary and that of everyone he appointed to government. Is that what Mr Collins would have done in the same circumstances? The more likely outcome is that Mr Collins would have been glad to retain a TD’s salary and leave the pay rise until he had proven he deserved it.