Dublin Opinion

On the day that the government issued an embarrasing rehash of spending plans and flogged ideas, Enda Kenny decided to spend his time flying kites.

Last week, Bertie, Mcdowell, and Cowen got up in front of the nation and said ‘WE HAVE NO NEW IDEAS. OUR BALLS ARE UNGUARDED. WHY DON’T YOU HAVE A GOOD ‘AUL KICK OF THEM.’ Instead, Kenny, leader of the opposition, heads off to the Clontarf Castle (Swanky!) to talk to the party faithful about the problem of immigration.

It was the equivalent of a striker stopping in front of an open goal, looking up to the stands, and saying ‘Hey, now wait a minute! There’s some blacks in here!’

In fairness, Kenny went on to say that those black have a right to be in the stands - but they also have responsibilities. They may have paid in - although some may have sneaked in. They may be honest - but then again they may be thieving bastards as well. They need to integrate - and we’re here to help them to integrate. Let’s all have an honest debate about this.
At the same time, the government’s goalie gets back on its feet and Kenny’s got nothing left to shoot at except the blacks, the gypsies, oh, and chainsaw-stealing knackers.

Kenny’s plan – well, the Fine Gael stratigists’ plan – was an old one. In American parlance, Kenny was ‘raising the flag and seeing who salutes.’ Fine Gael was testing the water for the idea of running on an immgration fear platform. It was held on a Tuesday so they’d get at least two days on Joe Duffy out of it. All they got was more airtime for Aine Ni Chonail. The kite-flying came,of course, less than a week after Big Brother had caused a furore with allegations of rascism, with Jade Goody swiftly becoming a hate figure in both British and Irish the press.

Fine Gael can fly all the kites that they want, but you’ve got to question the strategy behind the Clontarf Castle (swanky!) conference. Instead of having three or four of their rockweillers ready to rip the NDP apart, and Kenny with the right soundbites afterwards, they use the opprtunity to have Kenny testing controversial waters – in effect setting himself up for his own possible attack. This happened, of course, but at least Kenny found out that he’s got Geraldine Kennedy on his side with the immigration scapegoat.

The rest of the media,however, slapped him in the face, especially with his ridiculous ‘Celtic Christian’ comments. The Irish Independent’s front page on Wednesday was an embarrasment, with the paper deriding the government’s plan while Kenny pointed to the blacks in the stands. Fine Gael has got to get its act together. It can’t keep on hoping for the government to lose the election. It’s got to win it from them. Tuesday was just another missed opportunity, one that made Kenny look like an Irish Jade Goody, rather than a potential West Wing Martin Sheen. No rousing emotional music to lift the nation, just Ritchie Kavanagh with a breakfast roll up his arse.