Enda Kenny refuses to say when he will stand down

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has refused to state when he will stand aside as leader of Fine Gael.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Mr Kenny said he would continue to focus on his role and would travel to Belgium next week as Taoiseach.

Mr Kenny said today had been a normal working day for him and tomorrow would be too.

Earlier, Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar had said that Mr Kenny would know when the time is right to step down as Fine Gael leader.

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Mr Varadkar, one of the favourites to replace Mr Kenny in the role, said Mr Kenny had been a “fabulous leader” for the party.

Following a week of intense pressure on Mr Kenny over his knowledge about the handling of Garda whistleblowers and a Dáil motion on confidence in the Government, Mr Varadkar echoed earlier comments made by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, who said recent political events had brought the prospect of a general election closer.

Mr Varadkar told reporters in Dublin that Mr Kenny would know the right time to stand aside for himself, the party and for the country.

Mr Noonan said he had “no idea” what Mr Kenny’s intentions for the future were.

“A lot of TDs are quite concerned that the date of an election has been brought forward. On the politics side, every party will be looking at the situation now,” he told reporters in Dublin.

“From where we stand today, it has brought the idea of an election centre stage, and that wasn’t the case when we came back in January.”

Mr Noonan said it was “up to the Taoiseach when he will step down”.

“It’s been a very difficult week. There’s no doubt about that. The Government is united.

“My view is he has a skillset that is very valuable for the country.”

Contenders

At Wednesday’s Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting, Mr Varadkar and Simon Coveney - regarded as the leading contenders to succeed Mr Kenny - told fellow TDs they needed to be ready for a general election.

Fine Gael TDs interpret this as a signal to Mr Kenny that he will face a challenge if he does not indicate a definite timetable for his departure.

The party’s deputies believe they cannot fight an election with Mr Kenny as leader, and the Taoiseach has said he will not seek to lead the party into the next election.

Mr Kenny was this week criticised for giving differing accounts of his knowledge of a Tusla file in which false sexual abuse allegations were made against Grada whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe.

He apologised in the Dáil for his handling of the matter.

The allegations against Mr McCabe are seen as a central part of an alleged smear campaign against the whisteblower.

Sources close to Mr Coveney, the Minister for Housing, suggested a 12-week timeframe for Mr Kenny’s departure, which would mean a successor taking over by mid-May.

It is understood this would include the maximum 20-day period for electing a new party leader after Mr Kenny resigns.

He would stay on as caretaker Taoiseach pending the completion of the leadership election.

Tribunal

The Cabinet met early on Thursday and agreed to include the cases of Mr McCabe and an as yet unspecified number of other Garda whistleblowers in a tribunal of inquiry.

Interaction between gardaí and Tusla will be included in the inquiry, as will others involving the Health Service Executive where relevant.

The chair of the inquiry will be Supreme Court judge Mr Justice Peter Charleton, who will be asked to provide an interim report within three months.

Mr Kenny said the judge would report within nine months on the McCabe element of the tribunal.

However, he said he could not be certain on how long the other cases would take.

The vice-chair of Fine Gael’s parliamentary party, Pat Deering, said on Thursday that Mr Kenny should make a decision on his future in the “next few days”.

“I believe the party needs new focus. We have had an indication of this on more than a few occasions,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

Earlier, Martin Heydon TD, the chair of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, defended Mr Kenny’s handling of the McCabe case, saying: “He corrected the record when he realised he had made a mistake.”

Both Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney had sought to quell the anger among Fine Gael TDs in recent days, but now believe a party leadership change, sooner rather than later, is inevitable and desirable.

Many believe the Taoiseach should be allowed to travel to Washington to visit US president Donald Trump on St Patrick’s Day, and then given the space to stand down himself.

It was suggested on Thursday by supporters of Mr Coveney that the leadership campaign will allow Fine Gael develop a distinctive policy platform for a general election if one occurs in the short term.