Thank you all for coming here in such huge numbers. And thank you to everyone joining us at home. It's been another long week.

For some it's been chaotic, the weekly assault course of the job and traffic, school and childminding, balancing working and living. I'm a working father myself. I know what that's like. That's why I know that time and family are the most precious things we have now.

So, I'm not going to waste your family time by giving you what you've come to know and dread as politics as usual. Instead I'm going to talk to you about politics as it should be. Government as it could be. And how together we can build a better Ireland.

A better Ireland

So what do I mean by a better Ireland? It's the Ireland you've told me you want as I've travelled the length and breadth of this country listening to your stories, your plans, your hopes. It's an Ireland where we feel we belong because we feel respected, safe. It's an Ireland where the health services work. More beds, hospitals that are safe and clean, children with a healthy future.

In a better Ireland we embrace the full potential of a lasting peace on this island, a prospect which is now within sight following the very welcome agreement between Sinn Féin and the DUP to restore devolved government from next month. Our better Ireland will be one which continues to be a valued voice in Europe and beyond.

A better Ireland is one where education for all is not a system, but a fundamental right. It's where we protect the economic progress of the last 15 years, where we compete internationally, growing our wealth into the confident, ambitious generations to come.

And tonight, in talking about this better Ireland, I'm reminded of what my own father believed. He was a TD. He believed that no government can do everything. Because everything is not their job. But what is their job is to do what they say they will do. That was his view of government's duty. And it's mine. Work hard, do the job, keep your promises.

This lesson was strengthened in me, in my years as a young principal teacher, before being elected to Dáil Éireann. It's what I intend to do every day of the next government. It's how I will build our better Ireland.

Broken promises

This evening, you don't need me to tell you what's wrong with this country. We stand in the wreckage of broken promises. We are knee-deep in the wreckage of broken promises. This Government's record speaks for itself.

They promised to end waiting lists in our hospitals by 2004. They failed. Ask any woman told to wait 18 months for a life-saving operation.

They promised maximum value for money in public projects. What they delivered was the PPARS health computer system and electronic voting machines. They promised "no more revolving doors" in our overcrowded jails. But 3,000 prisoners were released early from jail last year. They made a specific commitment to reduce class sizes. They failed. They promised to reduce - significantly - waiting times at A&E units. The result, as you know, is a national disgrace. And nobody accepts responsibility for any of these failures.

Well, I don't know about you, but I've had enough of waiting. I've had enough of broken promises. Because when I became leader of Fine Gael, I didn't make my bond just with the party. No, I made my bond with the people.

Contract for a better Ireland

And because I did, I've come here to offer you my word, my bond in this contract. The Contract for a Better Ireland. Conradh le Muintir na hÉireann.

We will begin with our number-one priority, health services that work. Like every parent in Ireland, I love my children more than life itself. And when your child wakes you up in the middle of the night, pains in their head, burning up and red all over - the cost of the doctor or money should never be the deciding factor in whether you take the chance. Is it a heat rash, or could it be something more serious? That's why our Contract for a

1. Free health insurance for every child under 16.
2. Free GP visits for every child under five.
3. 2,300 more acute hospital beds.

4. 2,000 more Gardai on the streets.
5. An end to automatic reductions in sentences and tougher bail conditions.

6. Increased access to a year’s pre-school.

7. Appointment of a Minister for Immigration Affairs.

8. Targets for every government agency to reduce its carbon footprint
9. Investment in renewable energy sources
10. Reduced taxes on bio fuels and lower emission cars

11. Dismissal of any Minister reckless with the people’s money

12. Lower income taxes for every taxpayer.
13. Tax relief to families where someone stays home to care for a child or a parent.
14. An end to stamp duty as we know it - lower rates for everyone and an abolition for almost all first-time buyers.

The European Elections saw Fine Gael defeat Fianna Fáil in a national poll for the first time since 1927 when the Party won five seats in the European Parliament.

In the Meath By-Election, our candidate Shane McEntee scored a spectacular victory in a constituency where Fianna Fáil captured 46 per-cent of the vote in the 2002 General Election.

I have been fortunate to represent the people of Mayo in Dáil Eireann since 1975, when I was first elected in a by-election following the death of my late father Henry Kenny. I've been returned at nine consecutive General Elections.

My vision of Fine Gael is as a party of the progressive centre, focussing on the rights and responsibilities of all citizens.

I have also vigorously attacked the Government for its irresponsibility with the public purse, which has seen millions of Euro squandered though mismanagement, damaging the country’s economic and social fabric.


On my first day in the Dáil, the age of just 24, I was welcomed at the gates of Leinster House by then Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave and a huge crowd of supporters where I spelled out my political priority: "The greatest good for the greatest number."

I became a young Minister of State under Garret FitzGerald when I was appointed Junior Minister at the Department of Education and Labour. In opposition, I held a number of Front Bench portfolios including Education, Western Development, Youth Affairs and Sport.


From 1994 to 1997 I represented Ireland on the World Stage as Minister for Tourism and Trade. I presided over a revolution in Irish tourism as the numbers visiting this country soared thanks to initiatives spearheaded by my Department. One example of my hard work can be seen on the streets (and in the skies) of Dublin every March - a vastly improved St Patrick's festival and parade.

In the Trade area, I chaired the Singapore rounds of the World Trade Organisation talks in 1996, and headed the EU Council of Trade Ministers during Ireland's Presidency of the Union. Through the fostering of international trade, so crucial to the birth of the Celtic Tiger, I played a significant role in creating the economic boom that began under the last Fine Gael-led Government.

I have also served on many Oireachtas committees including Education and Science, Health and Children and, as a fluent Irish speaker, the Committee on the Irish Language.

Married to Fionnuala O'Kelly, I have three children - Naoise, Ferdia and Aoibhinn. I was born and brought up in Castlebar, I still live in the town and divide my time between Mayo and Dublin - as well as constantly touring the country (I visit every constituency in the country on a regular basis).

A fan of Bruce Springsteen, I like to hillwalk, play golf and cycle. I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of three Mayo charities in 2003, and cycled from Kerry to Donegal for charity in 2005.

In 2006, Enda was elected Vice-President of our European affiliate, the European People's Party.