LIFE AFTER LEINSTER HOUSE:FIANNA FÁIL's Michael Kennedy returned immediately to his insurance brokerage business in Swords when he lost his Dáil seat in Dublin North. His son, Fergal, had run the business while he concentrated on politics.
“There was no point in hanging around. I was lucky I had a job to go back to; it gave me a reason to get up in the morning.”
Kennedy, who is married with three children, had served one Dáil term, after unsuccessfully contesting a byelection and the 2002 general election.
He says he is the kind of person who can pull himself together after a setback.
As a former intercounty footballer and hurler with Dublin, he had learned to be philosophical in defeat. “I miss being a TD, but I am not in a depression. I’m still disappointed to be out of the Dáil.”
Kennedy, whose political career began as a member of Dublin County Council in 1991, implacably opposed Brian Cowen’s leadership in its final months.
He wanted Cowen to go on television and explain the dire state of the economy to people, arguing that the then taoiseach was failing to connect with the public.
Some months before Cowen finally stood down, Kennedy publicly warned that a failure to replace him would leave a new leader without sufficient time to establish himself.
He says he now regrets he was not more vocal at the time. “Choosing a new leader earlier would have meant many of the outgoing TDs, including myself, might have retained our seats.”
Kennedy says he was picking up the wave of anger against Fianna Fáil on the doorsteps and elsewhere throughout the constituency.
“Constituents were saying to me that Cowen had his head in the sand and that he had his salary and guaranteed pension and did not know how tough it was for people.”
He believes the late Brian Lenihan would have “walked it” had there been a leadership contest in the autumn of last year.
“Throughout the preceding summer, it was clear that he wanted the leadership. For some reason, he then pulled back, perhaps because he did not want to be the one to stick the knife into Brian Cowen.”
Kennedy also thinks Lenihan’s health might have been worse than he was saying at the time. “One can understand him not pursuing the leadership in those circumstances.”
Fianna Fáil, he says, is facing a difficult road to recovery.
“In the good old days, we were the centre party, appealing to all shades of opinion and groups. I think, now, we have to identify a niche market, probably the middle-aged and older.”
He has attended a number of constituency meetings since losing his seat.
“Micheál Martin has been out to the constituency. It is not like the old days, but some people are turning up.”
He would like to run for the party in the next general election. “I find there is a good deal of goodwill towards me personally.”
He says he does not want to remove himself from national politics, even if it brought a quieter life.
“There is a limit to the amount of golf you can play.”
Michael Kennedy Fianna Fáil
Constituency:Dublin North
First elected:2007
Dáil service:Four years
Current status:Self-employed
