Enda Kenny on the Late Late (15/01/10)

nesf

My my, he really didn't do very well. I'd have expected better to be honest.

It should be up on RTE Player later for those who missed it.

JonathanAnon

Tubridy was a disgrace. Treated the interview like a quick fire round. As soon as one of the answers didn suit his FF agenda he fire in some other derogatory remark-cum-question. BCC should be all over this.

brianthebard

Agree with Johnny, suggesting that the party following the leader's plans is dictatorial was pathetic. I think Kenny could've done better at explaining why he wouldn't go into govt with SF, and I don't like his plan to abolish the seanad, but his faults were overshadowed by Tubridy's immense bias.

Sand

I am bemused by how an opposition politician can do badly in a public appearance these days. The single line "I don't care what you say, I've won the World Cup!" line was enough to carry Frank LeBoeuf through an encounter on UK national TV with people far wittier than him. How an opposition politician can do any worse than average when there so much mud to throw on the current government is a bit puzzling.

stumpypeeps

If any of you watched the Cowan interview a few months ago I think Tubridy was pretty even handed to both. That said he was quite abrupt with both. Only difference being Cowan was responding in a off the cuff manor to the questions. Kenny was reading off his script and punctuating his answers with a deranged grin.

ronaneire

JonathanAnon wrote: »

Tubridy was a disgrace. Treated the interview like a quick fire round. As soon as one of the answers didn suit his FF agenda he fire in some other derogatory remark-cum-question. BCC should be all over this.

Wasn't Tubridy the same with Cowen too? As in quick fire questions.

nesf

JonathanAnon wrote: »

Tubridy was a disgrace. Treated the interview like a quick fire round. As soon as one of the answers didn suit his FF agenda he fire in some other derogatory remark-cum-question. BCC should be all over this.

He was the same with Cowen with grilling him over overdrinking and similar. Tubridy doesn't give easy political interviews and if a politician makes a statement he'll happily press them to clarify or justify what they said.

Kenny dug his own hole with his "I rule out going into coalition with Sinn Feinn" without having a reason to hand to explain such and other stuff.

stumpypeeps

nesf wrote: »

He was the same with Cowen with grilling him over overdrinking and similar. Tubridy doesn't give easy political interviews and if a politician makes a statement he'll happily press them to clarify or justify what they said.

Kenny dug his own hole with his "I rule out going into coalition with Sinn Feinn" without having a reason to hand to explain such and other stuff.

The only thing that scares me more than the ineptitude of the current regime, is the utter shambles that is the opposition. Gilmour is performing reasonably.
Surely FG need a change in leadership.

Rebelheart

Tubridy is pathetic. I still have no intention of forgiving him for allowing Patrick Bartholomew Ahern to "drop in for a chat" on the Late Late a couple of months back rather than an absolute grilling. He was pathetic. He just cannot get up to muster, particularly when dealing with scumbags like that Ahern individual who is now off in the sunset on God knows how many pensions laughing his arse off at the chaos he left behind.

Seán O Rourke, to take one of many people, would be an infinitely better interviewer of political crooks and gangsters than Tubridy could ever be.

nesf

ronaneire wrote: »

Wasn't Tubridy the same with Cowen too? As in quick fire questions.

Rapid fire questions are fine so long as they're directed at FF, PDs or Greens apparently.

Rebelheart

nesf wrote: »

Tubridy doesn't give easy political interviews

Ahem. Youhavegottobeshi!tingme.

P-A-T-R-I-C-K
B-A-R-T-H-O-L-O-M-E-W
A-H-E-R-N

JonathanAnon

Kenny was reading off his script and punctuating his answers with a deranged grin.

Oh dont get me wrong. I dont think that Kenny excelled in any way. He could learn a lot from the party he wont go into government with ... i.e. HAVE YOUR ANSWERS PREPARED... his answer for the Sinn Fein question which he knew he could be asked? "I tell ye all later"

ronaneire wrote: »

Wasn't Tubridy the same with Cowen too? As in quick fire questions.

There was a more disrespectful tone to the questions that he asked Enda, I felt. When he asked the drink question of Cowan, he prefaced the question with a reason for asking it and gave him time to answer, while gently helping him along with the answer.

With Kenny, he quoted a load of tabloids tags (that have been assigned to Kenny by the media) at Kenny and put a question mark at the end of each statement. And where did they get the audience from? Must have been all his Ógra friends up the road. All I can say is they must have had the same audience in the night Bertie was there, cos if I was there I would have voiced my concerns (the way tonight's audience seemed to voice their opposition to Kenny)

dlofnep

He was just as prompt with Brian Cowen. There's no conspiracy.

stumpypeeps

I think you'll find Kenny just isn't popular. His satisfaction rating attests to that. Anyone else would have gotten FG into power during the last election. FF were sitting ducks.

jmayo

That interview was a fu**ing disgrace.

He asks kenny what he thought of bertie and then when Kenny makes very valid point about him being very hard to get to know, which would usually lead on to follow up questions he just jumps onto next topic.
opf course we don't want him to shed any light on bertie, you know the leader of the tubridy/andrews clan party.

Kenny said he wants to get rid of the Seanad, why not ask him why he thinks that ?
Oh no he asks why he didn't consult every senator in his party and was he mean to them.
Then when he states it was a leaders right tubhead accuses him of being dicatorial and that this will be his style of taosieach.
FFS why didn't he come out and claim Kenny kills kittens and roasts pet rabbits while he was at it.

Then the old chestnut about no experience.
Yeah we can all see where ff experience has gotten us, into the f***ing poor house and back to where we were in the 80s.

Most Mayo people will not appreciate his smarmy gibe about Mayo winning All Irelands either the little D4 fu**ker.

I would love to know how many questions did he ask Kenny in comparison to how many he asked clowen ?
His comment about his wife was a bit snide.

Kenny should have said he didn't agree with SF economic policy rather than the bare faff around almost saying the truth that most people in the Republic of Ireland don't want to see the likes of Martin Ferris in their government.
How many ffers would he ask that question ?

As for have the jeers, was that his little scrawny would be councillor brother in the audience ?

The whole interview stung, it was like Mastermind earlier on BBC with how many questions you can answer in 2 minutes.
Once an answer shed any disparaging light on ff it was off to the next one very quickly.

Rebelheart

JonathanAnon wrote: »

Oh dont get me wrong. I dont think that Kenny excelled in any way. He could learn a lot from the party he wont go into government with ... i.e. HAVE YOUR ANSWERS PREPARED... his answer for the Sinn Fein question which he knew he could be asked? "I tell ye all later"


There was a more disrespectful tone to the questions that he asked Enda, I felt. When he asked the drink question of Cowan, he prefaced the question with a reason for asking it and gave him time to answer, while gently helping him along with the answer.

With Kenny, he quoted a load of tabloids tags (that have been assigned to Kenny by the media) at Kenny and put a question mark at the end of each statement. And where did they get the audience from? Must have been all his Ógra friends up the road. All I can say is they must have had the same audience in the night Bertie was there, cos if I was there I would have voiced my concerns (the way tonight's audience seemed to voice their opposition to Kenny)

I didn't see the interview with Kenny, having vowed to not watch Tubridy again after his obsequious Ahern interview. However, Cowen's interview I did watch and Tubridy was simply offensive, particularly his implication that Cowen has a drink problem. That was just sh!tty tabloid stuff, particularly in light of the huge number of important and relevant political questions which could be asked to him.

stumpypeeps

jmayo wrote: »

That interview was a fu**ing disgrace.

He asks kenny what he thought of bertie and then when Kenny makes very valid point about him being very hard to get to know, which would usually lead on to follow up questions he just jumps onto next topic.
opf course we don't want him to shed any light on bertie, you know the leader of the tubridy/andrews clan party.

Kenny said he wants to get rid of the Seanad, why not ask him why he thinks that ?
Oh no he asks why he didn't consult every senator in his party and was he mean to them.
Then when he states it was a leaders right tubhead accuses him of being dicatorial and that this will be his style of taosieach.
FFS why didn't he come out and claim Kenny kills kittens and roasts pet rabbits while he was at it.

Then the old chestnut about no experience.
Yeah we can all see where ff experience has gotten us, into the f***ing poor house and back to where we were in the 80s.

Most Mayo people will not appreciate his smarmy gibe about Mayo winning All Irelands either the little D4 fu**ker.

I would love to know how many questions did he ask Kenny in comparison to how many he asked clowen ?
His comment about his wife was a bit snide.

Kenny should have said he didn't agree with SF economic policy rather than the bare faff around almost saying the truth that most people in the Republic of Ireland don't want to see the likes of Martin Ferris in their government.
How many ffers would he ask that question ?

As for have the jeers, was that his little scrawny would be councillor brother in the audience ?

The whole interview stung, it was like Mastermind earlier on BBC with how many questions you can answer in 2 minutes.
Once an answer shed any disparaging light on ff it was off to the next one very quickly.

I thought he was tougher with Cowen, especially bringing up the drinking, a low blow.

I don't think the Irish electorate will elect Kenny. He had his chance in 2007 and was proven totally out of his depth. Time for someone else in FG to have a go.

jmayo

nesf wrote: »

He was the same with Cowen with grilling him over overdrinking and similar. Tubridy doesn't give easy political interviews and if a politician makes a statement he'll happily press them to clarify or justify what they said.

Kenny dug his own hole with his "I rule out going into coalition with Sinn Feinn" without having a reason to hand to explain such and other stuff.

Yes kenny was bad on that one and he should have just come out and said the truth, most people here do not want people associated with slab murhpy or Gerry McCabes murderers in their government.
He never pressed bertie to clairfy questions, heel he never asked any questions in the first place.

Ah he asked clowen if he liked a drink, why didn't he ask him why he continued section23/50 grants for development even though the property bubble was overheating ?
Why didn't he ask him why he stood by a leader that couldn't explain wads of cash and doing up a house owned by a supporter to a judge at a tribunal ?

nesf wrote: »

Rapid fire questions are fine so long as they're directed at FF, PDs or Greens apparently.

Well ff don't ever have to aanswer them since they only ever appear on rte where the interviewers are usually ff family members. :rolleyes:

Why don't they appear on Eamon Keane's lunchtime show ?

stumpypeeps

I think jmayo your letting your party allegiance get in the way of any objective analysis.

ninty9er

Rebelheart wrote: »

Ahem. Youhavegottobeshi!tingme.

P-A-T-R-I-C-K
B-A-R-T-H-O-L-O-M-E-W
A-H-E-R-N

That wasn't a political interview...it was a memoirs style interview.

stumpypeeps wrote: »

I think jmayo your letting your party allegiance get in the way of any objective analysis.

Haha...that's quite clear...I'm very often the victim of such accusations, though I'm never so ridiculous in comments

I'm gonna enjoy watching this in RTÉ Player later:D:D

jmayo

stumpypeeps wrote: »

I think jmayo your letting your party allegiance get in the way of any objective analysis.

Ah come on, have you watched some of the RTE interviews of ff politicans ?

I will readily admit Kenny does not come across well and fu** up on the SF point, but was he ever given the soft soap treatment as afforded the ffers on that program.
Yes cowen was asked if he had a drink problem, but was he accussed of being a dictator even though he was actaully the one that openly stated in the Dail he would run the country whatever way he liked since he was leader.

The difference on Prime Time was noticable the other night when mirriam went after gomrley in away she has never been seen to do when interviewing ff ministers.

Anyway down to basics.
Would you rather cowen and his party as the government or Kenny and his party as the government ?

Yes or No answer please.

hmmm

I would love to see a change of government, but I despair at the alternatives on offer and tonight was yet another example why. Kenny came out with a script full of glib one liners that he repeated over and over again. I hear some people saying he's much more relaxed and fluent when he's off camera, I'd love to see it. On camera he comes across as very shallow, like some political wind-up doll who will repeat phrases when poked. I presume he has media handlers, what are they doing??

Personally I don't want a Taoiseach full of glib power phrases, I just want someone who has a clear vision and is competent enough to govern effectively. Kenny doesn't tick either of these boxes for me (neither does Cowen or Gilmore).

stumpypeeps

jmayo wrote: »

Ah come on, have you watched some of the RTE interviews of ff politicans ?

I will readily admit Kenny does not come across well and fu** up on the SF point, but was he ever given the soft soap treatment as afforded the ffers on that program.
Yes cowen was asked if he had a drink problem, but was he accussed of being a dictator even though he was actaully the one that openly stated in the Dail he would run the country whatever way he liked since he was leader.

The difference on Prime Time was noticable the other night when mirriam went after gomrley in away she has never been seen to do when interviewing ff ministers.

Anyway down to basics.
Would you rather cowen and his party as the government or Kenny and his party as the government ?

Yes or No answer please.

I'd like to see FG and Labour et al given a chance. I don't know if I have confidence in Kenny though.

jmayo

stumpypeeps wrote: »

I think jmayo your letting your party allegiance get in the way of any objective analysis.

ninty9er wrote: »

That wasn't a political interview...it was a memoirs style interview.

Memoirs I thought had to be based on fact or reality and not fiction ?
I thought bertie couldn't remember half of the things that happened anyway so how could he or anyone else write his memoirs ?

ninty9er wrote: »

Haha...that's quite clear...I'm very often the victim of such accusations, though I'm never so ridiculous in comments

I'm gonna enjoy watching this in RTÉ Player later:D:D

Of course not, no ridiculous statements :rolleyes:
Still think problems in the education system is because teachers are lazy and has nothing at all to do with class sizes ?
Or that NAMA will be fine since they will only get the odd loans where developers can no longer pay ?

nesf

jmayo wrote: »

Ah come on, have you watched some of the RTE interviews of ff politicans ?

I will readily admit Kenny does not come across well and fu** up on the SF point, but was he ever given the soft soap treatment as afforded the ffers on that program.
Yes cowen was asked if he had a drink problem, but was he accussed of being a dictator even though he was actaully the one that openly stated in the Dail he would run the country whatever way he liked since he was leader.

The difference on Prime Time was noticable the other night when mirriam went after gomrley in away she has never been seen to do when interviewing ff ministers.

Anyway down to basics.
Would you rather cowen and his party as the government or Kenny and his party as the government ?

Yes or No answer please.

The man will most likely be our next Taioseach. Giving him the softly softly treatment would be a bad idea! Grilling a rank and file member of a party is a bit much but a party leader of the main opposition party in a time when they are almost certain to be elected is someone that needs to be able to back up their statements with something more than handwaving and repeating what they already said!

Kenny did fine, so long as he was able to stay on his lines. That he faltered when asked for details on some of the points he brought up is terrible. It's not like he was blindsided with a very personal question like Cowan and his rumoured drink problem.

Liam Byrne

ninty9er wrote: »

That wasn't a political interview...it was a memoirs style interview.

Considering it took Ahern 5 different contradictory answers to explain his cash to the tribunal, I can't see how he could have any memoirs.

I didn't watch tonight's interview because I've given up watching anything political on The LL / FF show since Tubridy let that scumbag off so lightly.

Ahern joked about signing blank cheques for Haughey ("I didn't even like the shirts").

NO-ONE should be allowed to get away with bull**** like that on national TV.

Whatever Kenny's downfalls, at least he didn't make jokes about blatant corruption and laugh off any monumental screw-ups and corruption.

From the sounds of it, he should have been better, but at least he's not at the sewer level like FF; but yet gives FF supporters enough to slag him off about.

Which means that the interview reflects reality; slag off and complain minor flaws, but don't tackle the elephants in their own room.

Personally, I can't wait for the day that Richard Bruton takes over so that there's no irrelevant bull**** excuses for people who ignore blatant corruption to pick hairs over.

ziggy

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nice_guy80

its typical

we're charmed by the likes of Bertie when he was in power

and Kenny comes across as an ordinary fella from Mayo who was elected to the Dail

I'm not a FG voter, but i'd trust the ex-teacher before i'd trust the guy who supposedly had no bank account when he was minister for finance.

the lack of charisma doesn't mean he wouldn't make a good taoiseach

quinnthebin

It's true what Kenny said - you can't question the people's vote - pity really seeing as the current shower of incompetents were returned last time. Wake up people ffs you get what you deserve and you deserve what you get. Local politics and a Short memory will no doubt ensure the same will happen next time. good luck with it. I have absolutely no political preferences but surely it's time for an alternative??? Other than his manic pat short grin, I thought Kenny passed himself fairly competently given the style of questioning.

Rebelheart

ziggy wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I see you have patently huge things to worry about.

Yes, I do. Now you go off with yourself and get into your affectionate familiar "Bertie" mode as if you, like every other unthinking person in this state, have known that individual intimately for years and as if he is just one of the lads like you - and all that uncritical plebeian vacuousness without a thought in the world for the damage that self-serving man has done to Irish society.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.