All eyes on Varadkar’s Cabinet as Kenny says goodbye

Enda Kenny's period of over six years and three months in the Department of Taoiseach will come to an end when his successor, Leo Varadkar, takes up office tomorrow. But today is all about Kenny.

It will be a significant day in Irish national life. Kenny has been a public figure for decades, having served as a Cabinet minister – although not one of frontline rank – in the Rainbow Coalition in the mid '90s, to leading Fine Gael from 2002 to his term as Taoiseach between 2011 and this week.

In keeping with his deserved reputation as a skilful political manager, Kenny has steered his own departure to a successful end point, ensuring that talk of the reason for his stepping down – his mishandling of the controversy around Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe – will likely be minimal.

Kenny has been paid well earned plaudits for his management of the economy since assuming office in 2011 but it is also worth noting that he and Michael Noonan, the outgoing Minister for Finance, have also left Fine Gael in a healthy position.

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Then party has successfully managed generational change, with Varadkar and senior figures such as Paschal Donohoe and Simon Coveney now in charge, and aged between the late 30s and mid 40s.

Below them are another rank of still younger politicians who will eventually assume control of the party. A cohort of these arrived into the Dáil in the election that saw Kenny take power in 2011. One of those, Simon Harris, nominated Kenny as Taoiseach in the Dáil in March 2011, echoing the letter from George Bernard Shaw to Michael Collins's sister after Collins's assassination in 1922.

In 2011, Harris urged Ireland to "hang our brightest colours". This week, a substantial politician at just 30, he will be anxiously waiting to see whether he retains a Cabinet position after a bruising leadership election that saw him pick the wrong side.

Another of the 2011 intake, 35 year old Eoghan Murphy, is expected to be given a place in Cabinet by Varadkar having managed the Dublin West TD's leadership campaign in a successful manner that significantly enhanced his own reputation.

The choreography of the next few days was sketched out by Pat Leahy in a weekend piece in The Irish Times, which you can catch up on here.

Of course, while everyone on the Government benches will pay effusive tributes to Kenny today, their thoughts are going to be on tomorrow’s announcement of Varadkar’s Cabinet.

The latest ins and outs are pulled together by Sarah Bardon, and Michael Ring and Murphy are being widely tipped for promotion.

There is also the question of what happens to Coveney, who fancies a stint in the Department of Foreign Affairs but might have to surrender his claim on the position of Tanaiste to have his pick of Cabinet portfolios.

There are always surprises, however, on Cabinet formation day, particularly if someone kicks up and refuses to serve where the Taoiseach wants them to, or if someone else who had been previously overlooked demands a place around the table.

Varadkar will have to decide if he then adopts a take-it-or-leave-it approach or attempts to re-jig all his plans to assuage the disgruntled. Kenny, of course, could offer him some tips on what to do.