Duelling banjos at the ready as Enda promises ‘Deliverance’

Today is the day, isn’t it? This time we mean it, don’t we?

Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s last political lap is almost run and an announcement about his long-drawn-out departure date is finally imminent.

Yesterday morning as I dallied on Merrion Street “on the pavement, thinking about the Government”, as Bob Dylan would have it, a bus drove by featuring an advertising tag line that could have been made for Mr Kenny.

“He’s not shy. And he’s not retiring,” it said.

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The eye-catching advertisement actually referred to Newstalk radio presenter George Hook, a self-professed “old Blueshirt”, who famously announced he would retire from broadcasting before reversing his decision and carrying on.

But this evening the Taoiseach will come face to face with Fine Gael TDs and Senators at their weekly parliamentary party meeting in Leinster House.

Fine Gael is a famously polite family, even when at war, but at this stage it seems unlikely Mr Kenny will be allowed to leave the room unless he sets out a timeframe that will fire the official starting gun in the succession contest.

He has confirmed nothing to anybody, even his closest confidantes at Cabinet level, however.

Mr Kenny was in something of a wistful, reflective mood yesterday evening when he launched The Irish Times Nealon's Guide to the 32nd Dáil and 25th Seanad, the publication the inimitable Miriam Lord describes as "statistical porn for political anoraks".

He delivered some cryptic comments about politics having become degraded and debased, “seen as entertainment and gossip”, with politicians saying they are looking for delivery while people actually wanted “deliverance”.

It put me in mind of the spooky 1970s movie, directed by John Boorman, with its famous Duelling Banjos segment.

Ministers Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney have already been busy serenading their electorate, made up of TDs, Senators, MEPs, councillors and party members.

What is that electorate looking for? One Minister put it succinctly last night: a candidate who can win extra votes and extra seats and one, crucially, who can perform well in modern media debates.

Don’t mention the war

At the start of the month we reported Kenny’s visit to Canada could be his final foreign trip as Taoiseach, after his spokesman told reporters no further jaunts were planned or prepared.

That was “right at the time”, as we say in our trade.

Since then, it has emerged Mr Kenny will lead an Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Chicago from June 4th to 6th.

He will return to Ireland on June 7th, via Messines, Belgium, after attending the centenary commemoration of the start of the Battle of Messines Ridge, where unionist and nationalist soldiers from Ireland fought side by side in the first World War trenches.

June 7th is expected to be a significant date in the Fine Gael calendar. Fiach Kelly reports it is tipped to be the day when TDs cast their ballots in the leadership contest.

Fiach also reports that candidates for the Fine Gael leadership are to be compelled to sign up to a "fair play contract" that will attempt to keep the contest clean.

I must insert one final word of warning about making predictions about Mr Kenny’s intentions here.

The Government Press Secretary summed it up well at yesterday’s post-Cabinet briefing: “Anybody who professes to know the Taoiseach’s plans is telling you fibs. That includes me.”