What we really need is another Churchill

Michael Clifford deplores Enda Kenny’s supposed lack of vision.

Kenny is what he is, a decent man, tough enough when he needs to be (ask the bishops and the pro-life activists), but what we really need now is another Churchill. Regrettably, Churchills are in short supply. Still, Kenny is a blessed relief after those two Neville Chamberlain act-alikes, Ahern and Cowen, who spent 14 years appeasing developers, bankers and the electorate and in the process wrecked the country.

What Kenny needed was a Marshall Plan. What he inherited was the Troika and the insane bank guarantee.

The vision thing is important, but it can be disastrous, too — for example, the early twentieth century German “vision thing” of a European Customs Union dominated by Germany led to the first and second world wars. If Kenny and his government can win our economic independence and set us back on the road to recovery, then that is enough “vision thing” to tackle.

Anthony O’Leary

Portmarnock

Co Dublin