Minister for European Affairs Dara Murphy has been elected as vice president of the European People's Party (EPP), one of 10 centre-right politicians to be elected to the post.
His election, on the second day of the EPP congress in Madrid, was confirmed following tensions within Fine Gael about his nomination amid expectation that EU Commissioner Phil Hogan or European Parliament vice president Mairead McGuinness would be put on the ticket.
Ahead of the vote Taoiseach Enda Kenny said Mr Murphy was an “outstanding candidate” for the position, which has previously been held by the Taoiseach himself, former Taoiseach John Bruton and former Fine Gael junior minister Lucinda Creighton.
The Taoiseach used his keynote speech to the Congress to urge support for Minister Murphy, noting that, as European Affairs minister, he was the only government minister being nominated for the position.
He also stressed Ireland’s links with Britain as a key advantage for Minister Murphy’s candidature given the forthcoming referendum in Britain on EU membership.
The Fine Gael leader addressed the conference of centre-right parties from across the European Union on Thursday morning, in a speech that highlighted Ireland's strong economic performance over the last few years.
Earlier, Mr Kenny denied divisions within Fine Gael over Mr Murphy’s nomination.
Speaking in Madrid this morning, the Taoiseach said Fine Gael was “absolutely united” on the proposal that Mr Murphy become vice-president of the EPP.
"We're a small country, Commissioner Hogan is a very busy man, Mairead McGuinness as European Parliament vice-president and an MEP is a very busy MEP. Dara Murphy is the only Minister nominated to stand for the vice presidency. He is our Minister for European Affairs. He conducts his business in German and in French and in English. He's a vital link between the EPP, Ireland and Britain in the forthcoming referendum ," the Taoiseach said.
Addressing delegates at the EPP conference, the Taoiseach said the Irish general election will be held in "early Spring" as he called on voters across Europe to reject populism and embrace pragmatism in forthcoming general elections.
In a wide-ranging speech, the Taoiseach outlined the recovery in the Irish economy since Fine Gael took office, noting that unemployment had fallen from 15.2 per cent in early 2012 to over 9 per cent last year.
Describing the arrival of the troika as a “bloodless coup,” the Taoiseach said the Government had implemented cuts such as reducing public sector numbers by a fifth since 2008 and cutting the pay bill by 20 per cent.
He said the former Governor of the Central Bank had warned him the army and the Garda would have surrounded the banks and ATM during the financial crisis. "The governor told me, it looks like this weekend, a few years ago, you'll have to put the army around the banks and around the ATM machines, and introduce capital controls like they had in Cyprus. So we've pulled back from that brink."
He said that political stability was a key factor in securing economic growth, adding that the current government had further work to do.
“To get your unemployment rate from 15.2 to 9.4 per cent {is encouraging] but to get it down from 9.4 to 6 per cent, where we want to be in the next period is even more challenging.”
Asked what he would do if was Greek prime minister, the Taoiseach said he had already told Alexis Tsipras that "nobody is going to pay your bills for you."
“We had to make arrangements with the ECB and our colleagues at European levels to give us latitude to make our decisions to help improve our lot.”
Noting that growth in Greece was approaching 1 per cent growth when centre-right prime minister Antonis Samaras was leader, Mr Kenny said: "Populism is a danger to all democracies."
Mr Kenny was addressing delegates from centre-right parties from across the European Union, including members of Spain’s governing centre-right party which is facing election on December 20th.
