Ireland's next prime minister plays it right

DUBLIN (Reuters) - In four short weeks, Ireland's prime minister in-waiting Enda Kenny has shed his reputation as his party's weak link to join the ranks of its greatest leaders.

The former primary school teacher has lead the center-right Fine Gael party to a historic victory, on course for 75 plus seats and replacing the once dominant Fianna Fail party as the largest group in Ireland's parliament.

Yet at the start of the election campaign, many within his own ranks feared the father of three was a liability who would jeopardize key seats everytime TV cameras shone on him.

Kenny's nine years in charge of Fine Gael have been marred by low satisfaction ratings due to awkward media performances and a perception that he lacked gravitas and a full grasp of the finer points of economic policy.

Yet Ireland's longest-serving parliamentarian, whose youthful appearance belies his 59 years, outfoxed detractors.

He ran an astute campaign, keeping media appearances to a minimum and canvassing as many constituencies as possible to allow his strengths to shine through.

The cycling enthusiast's energy and serious engagement in one-on-one encounters impressed voters, many of whom had previously written him off as a policy light-weight with a penchant for cheesy jokes.

It is a far cry from last summer, when Richard Bruton, at the time Fine Gael's finance spokesman and a likely minister in the next government, tried to oust him saying Kenny did not have the capacity to deal with the problems Ireland faced.

Despite having the majority of the shadow cabinet against him, Kenny showed great resolve and political skill in defeating Bruton and quickly repaired the rift in the party to set them toward their best ever election performance and a likely coalition with the center-left Labour Party.

His supporters would argue this is a skill that will be required to keep a likely Fine Gael/Labour coalition government together and fulfill both parties aims of trying to squeeze concessions out of Europe on Ireland's 85 billion euro IMF/EU bailout.

SELF-STYLED CHAIRMAN

Kenny has already begun to adopt a more statesman-like role, meeting European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and German Chancellor Angel Merkel in recent weeks to discuss the IMF/EU deal.

Voters' perception of any new leader almost always improves once they become prime minister and Kenny has so far struck the right notes.

His victory speech on Saturday night was measured rather than triumphalist and in his first major media interview after his win he struck a serious tone, warning people that there would be tough times ahead.

Kenny, whose only government experience in over 35 years in parliament was as minister for tourism and trade between 1994 and 1997, is also fortunate to be starting off from a relatively weak base.

Indeed Bertie Ahern, whom Ireland's least popular premier Brian Cowen took over from in 2008, was an unpopular leader in opposition before becoming -- while in office at least -- one of the most popular sitting prime ministers in Ireland's history.

However, faced with the task of inflicting further budgetary pain on a weary people, the first prime minister from the western county of Mayo will not be able to ride on the coat-tails of a roaring "Celtic Tiger" economy as Ahern did.

His self-styled chairmanship approach -- Kenny has long said he is simply the manager of a capable team -- will be immediately tested and the new center-right/center-left partnership will need to sharply differentiate themselves from the previous administration.

If not, rumblings over his leadership may quickly return.

(Editing by Carmel Crimmins)