There was a large gathering at the Dunraven Arms Hotel in Adare last Friday night to greet the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD, at the Limerick Constituency Fine Gael Dinner Dance. Constituency Chairman Michael Gleeson said it was a huge honour for the Constituency to have the Taoiseach in attendance.
The Taoiseach addressed the group having received a standing ovation. He outlined the reasons why he was asking the people of Ireland to support the Treaty. He said that the Treaty would bring benefits to Ireland by creating confidence for multi nationals to invest here. The Referendum gave Ireland an opportunity to send out a message around the world that Ireland is facing the future with confidence and certainty. He complimented both Dáil Deputies representing the Constituency for their hard work and commitment to public service. In his speech Deputy Dan Neville said that Enda Kenny had taken over as leader of the Government in one of the most difficult economic periods in our history. He firmly believed that Enda Kenny was the right man at the right time and he paid tribute to the support that he had given him in the area of Mental Health. This commitment, he said, was evident in the allocation of €35million in the last Budget for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.
Patrick O’Donovan paid tribute to the way in which Enda had gone about his business since becoming Taoiseach and said that as a new TD he was honoured to represent the con-stituency of Limerick in Dáil Eireann.
Deputy O’Donovan said that the Government’s number one priority was the restoration of the economy and a huge part of that was rebuilding our reputation at home and abroad. This was, he said, being led by Enda Kenny who had shown a massive commitment since becoming Taoiseach, and his work was beginning to see results with the recent major job announcements. Deputy O’Donovan said that the younger gener-ation, and those yet to come, deserved better than the country that the Government had inherited last March, and every effort would need to be made to ensure that our economic sovereignty was restored and that we could once again regain our independence.
Cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council, Cllr. Mary Harty, said that it was a night to celebrate the achievement of Fine Gael in the Limerick Constit-uency gaining a second seat in the General Election and helping to form a Fine Gael/ Labour Government. She congratulated the Taoiseach on his achievements and said that she was confident that his strong work ethic and calm manner combined with his committed Cabinet would lead us out of economic difficulties. Cllr. Harty said that the biggest challenge facing the county was the imminent merger of Limerick City and County Councils and outlined her concerns concerning this event.
Mr. Seán Kelly MEP also attended the function and outlined further reasons why the Referendum was so important.
The Constituency officers presented the Taoiseach with a painting of Loop Head Lighthouse in Clare by local artist Jim O’Farr-
ell. Mr. Kenny’s grandfather James McGinley had served as lighthouse keeper in the 1930s. The Taoiseach appreciated the thought behind the gift and assured the artist that the painting would hang in his office.