Kenny must go before the inevitable heave

THOUGH Taoiseach Enda Kenny has won the latest chapter of Ireland’s long-running abortion debate by defeating the Fatal Foetal Abnormalities Bill in the Dáil, any feeling of satisfaction he may have derived from the outcome of that pyrrhic victory has been short-lived.

By granting Cabinet members a free vote on this vexed question, despite the Attorney General’s advice that the bill was unconstitutional, he has effectively forged a sharp nail, a nail that his growing band of critics in Fine Gael will be only too happy to hammer in to what increasingly looks like being his political coffin.

The bill, brought by by Independents4Change TD Mick Wallace, was rejected by 95 TDs and supported by 45, including Transport Minister Shane Ross. There is no guarantee that he and other Independents will not break ranks when issues of conscience arise in the future.