Enda Kenny is recalling a visit to the United States as taoiseach, during Ireland’s darkest economic hours. “The head of a very big organisation said to me, ‘What has happened to your country?’ And I said, ‘What do you mean?’ “‘It’s in shreds, and your reputation is in tatters.’ “So I said, ‘Well, what would you do if you were in my shoes?’ He said: ‘Show them you’re serious.’” It is mid-afternoon on another broiler of a summer’s day, but we are in the safe harbour of Dublin’s air-conditioned Conrad Hotel. Kenny, in shirtsleeves, is relaxed and chipper, despite having…

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