New Irish parliament elects Enda Kenny prime minister

Mar 9, 2011, 14:38 GMT

Dublin - Enda Kenny, the leader of Ireland's centre-right Fine Gael party, was elected prime minister by a huge majority as the new parliament met for the first time Wednesday.

Kenny, who was elected by a record majority of 117 votes to 27, said he felt 'deep gratitude and deep humility for the honour,' of leading Ireland into a new future.

'This current crisis is the darkest hour before the dawn,' he said.

'We are a people looking to the possibilities of a new day. That new day is here where there is no gap between people and government,' he said, urging Ireland to 'hang out its brightest colours.'

Kenny leads a centre-right Fine Gael/Labour coalition government after bringing his party to an historic election victory on February 25.

An angry electorate threw the dominant Fianna Fail party out of power after its mismanagement of Ireland's fiscal and banking crises led to an European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout worth 85 billion dollars last November.

It holds just 20 seats in the new parliament, down from 78.

With the Fine Gael and Labour coalition holding 113 seats in the 166-seat parliament, Kenny's government has a record majority in the Irish parliament.

The 59-year-old former schoolteacher has only once served as a cabinet minister, heading the ministry of tourism and trade from 1994 to 1997.

After receiving his seal of office from the president, Kenny will later announce his cabinet, with 10 Fine Gael members and five Labour members.

Labour party leader Eamon Gilmore is expected to be deputy prime minister (Tanaiste) and Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Labour is also expected to be given the new post of minister for public expenditure and reform.

Fine Gael veteran Michael Noonan is widely expected to be named finance minister.

The new government is expected to deliver quickly on its pre- election pledge to tackle Ireland's economic crisis, including the renegotiation the bailout deal.

The terms of the deal are considered to be discouraging growth and job creation in Ireland, which is undergoing the worst economic crisis in its history.

Kenny is expected to press for the interest rate to be cut from its current 5.8 per cent at a Friday meeting of euro zone leaders about the possible expansion of an EU bailout mechanism.

Read more about Ireland Politics