An elderly Mayo carpenter has caused a sensation by admitting that he created former Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
Geppetto O’ Reilly (91), a Westport resident, claims to have put the ex-Fine Gael leader together with bits of driftwood he picked up during his long walks around Clew Bay.
“I always liked a good walk to clear the head,” he said, “and you’d pick up some lovely odd bits.”
O’Reilly, who was living in digs at the time, as he worked his apprenticeship, spent hours putting Enda together, even painting on a natty three piece suit and flat cap. The creation, he said, resulted from boredom.
“It would get lonely in the digs. Mrs. O’Brien, God rest her, wasn’t much of a conversationalist. It was something to pass the time.”
One night, after a few pints, O’Reilly wished that Enda was a real life boy, so he might have someone to talk to.
“You can imagine my surprise the next morning,” said O’Reilly, “when I awoke with a sore head and Enda sitting up next to me with a big gormless look on his head.”
After getting over the shock, O’Reilly told Enda that “someday he could be a real boy, and eventually Taoiseach if he was brave, truthful and unselfish.”
Enda, much to O’Reilly’s disgust, turned out to possess none of those qualities, but somehow still went on to become Taoiseach.