SATURDAY PROFILE: "There is nothing wrong with being nice in politics. Bertie has shown what can be done when people like you," said one TD The Department of Trade and Tourism was known as 'Happy Valley' by civil servants during his popular tenure there. He's relaxed, intelligent, good company and a great mimic. But can he lead Fine Gael back from the wilderness? Mark Hennessy profiles Enda Kenny.
Hosting European Union colleagues in 1996, Enda Kenny brought them out for a few pints in Dessie Hynes's pub near Baggot Bridge, a hostelry then frequently attended by ministers from the Rainbow coalition.
Alhough used to more grand locations, the politicians, along with the rather stuffy European Trade Commissioner, Sir Leon Brittan, stayed happily entertained by Kenny into the early morning hours.
The incident, perhaps, illustrates much about the 51-year-old politician, a man who lacks pretension. He rarely, if ever, takes himself too seriously; he can be ideal company and is blessed with a common touch.
Certainly, his battered colleagues in Fine Gael hope that it is an omen. For over a decade, they have opted for leaders such as Alan Dukes, John Bruton and Michael Noonan, who singularly failed to connect with voters.
On Wednesday, the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party opted for Kenny, who emerged decisively from the group of four candidates, even though it is said that he lagged behind Richard Bruton on the first count.
"This is a man who can out-Bertie Bertie. There is nothing wrong with being nice in politics. Bertie has shown what can be done when people like you," said one Fine Gael TD.
Born outside Castlebar in 1951, Kenny is married with three children - Aoibhinn (9), Feardia (7), and Naoise (5) - to Fionnuala O'Kelly, whom he met while she was Fianna Fáil's press officer in the early 1980s.
The cross-party courtship was a source of constant amusement to Leinster House insiders during that time, although they remained discreet and left the much-liked duo to continue their courtship away from public glare.
Following the ending of Ireland's 1990 EU Presidency, O'Kelly decided that it was time to step down as Head of the Government Information Services to take up a post with RTÉ.
"People were great about it. I remember going to CJH at that time to tell him. He said, 'Look if this has anything to do with young Kenny, there is no need to go'," she said this week from the family's Castlebar home.
One of four brothers and one sister, Kenny comes from political stock. His father, Henry, served as a TD for Mayo West for 19 years up until his early death in 1975 when he was parliamentary secretary to the minister for finance.
Educated in a two-roomed primary school in Cornanool outside Castlebar and then in St Gerald's College, Kenny later opted to study in St. Patrick's Teacher Training College in Dublin and University College, Galway.
However, politics was in his blood. Even though he had begun his teaching career in a small rural Mayo school, his father's untimely demise left the 24-year-old holding the family's political standard.
Much of the subsequent by-election campaign was dominated by the plight of the west. The Cosgrave government's decision to establish a Western Development Board was denounced by Fianna Fáil as an election ploy.
Either way, the campaign worked. Kenny was returned, as he has been 10 times since, although the going has been getting harder every time, particularly since the arrival of a fellow Fine Gael TD, Michael Ring.
Since 1975, Kenny has known the frustration of the Opposition benches, and to a lesser extent the backbenches on the Government's side, for most of his career as Fine Gael's star has faded.
He served as minister of state at the Department of Education between 1986 and 1987 and minister for tourism and trade between 1994 and 1997, following his support for John Bruton during one of the heaves against him.
The press cuttings file on his ministerial career is thin, although his supporters insist that cannot be taken as a reflection on his work rate. "He was a very committed minister. He worked really hard," said one. Clearly, he was a popular boss. The Department of Tourism and Trade was known as "Happy Valley" in the civil service during his tenure, and much envied by officials elsewhere. "He was terrific. He knows how to get the best out of people. He tries to ensure that they are happy. He was great during the World Trade Organisation talks that he chaired," said one official of the time, who remains a fan.
During his time in Tourism and Trade, he enticed Tour de France organisers to hold one of their stages in Ireland in 1998 - a move that generated up to €30 million in tourist revenue and much favourable television coverage.
He laid the foundations of the negotiations to bring the world's biggest golf competition, the Ryder Cup, to Ireland in 2005, talks which were taken up by his Fianna Fáil successor, Dr Jim McDaid.
Furthermore, he is credited with rejuvenating Dublin's St. Patrick's Day, which for years had been nothing more than a boring procession down O'Connell Street of American high school majorettes.
Under Kenny, the parade became the focal point of a weekend of celebrations, which has since gone on to be a significant fillip to the tourist industry as it whets its appetite for the summer hordes.
A former minister for justice, Nora Owen, who once shared an office with him, is enthusiastic about his abilities to restore Fine Gael's fortunes. "He should be given the opportunity to show his skills and his intellect.
"He is a great people person. And that is what the party needs right now. He will sit and he will listen to people. And he will take on board what they say," said Owen, who lost her seat in the election. Others are not so sure: "I don't think that anybody doubts his abilities. They are there all right. But there is a serious doubt about his application. The general feeling is that he has never pushed himself to his limit," said one colleague.
The "application issue" irks both Kenny and his friends deeply: "He likes what he does. He does it without stress. He has amazing energy. That is not the sign of someone who is lazy," said one.
Despite the many problems he faces, Kenny takes over a parliamentary party that is more united than it has been at any time under Bruton, Noonan and Dukes.
"People are knackered, worn out. There is a need for a period of healing before we can really get on about trying to take Fianna Fáil out of power. Kenny may well be the man to offer that," said one colleague.
But there is work to be done. On Thursday, Kenny produced a rather threadbare critique of the last government's performance, in comparison to the forensic display by Labour's Ruairí Quinn.
In private, one of Kenny's most enjoyable party pieces is to quote from memory, and with a suitable Boston accent, many of the full speeches of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
Some of those words have echoes now, particularly Kennedy's call to "let the word go forth from this time and place to friend and foe alike that the torch has been passed to a new generation".
The torch has indeed been passed to him. And it cannot be dropped, if Fine Gael is to have any credible political future. Instead of brilliantly quoting the words of others, Mr Kenny must in future find his own.