Time MagazineTAOISEACH Enda Kenny made the cover of TIME magazine this week for a feature piece entitled ‘The Celtic Comeback’.

The green themed front page also noted that ‘Prime Minister Kenny’ is rebuilding his country’s economy and ‘the rest of Europe can learn from him.’

In an interview, he was asked about Ireland’s perception internationally as the model for economic recovery.

He stated: “While it’s gratifying to hear the comments internationally about how Ireland is a model of how you can do this, where people work with government, we want to go beyond that – to retrieve our economic independence.

“In the meantime, to have made the changes to the structures that had to be made. So  when we do emerge from this programme, not only can we be seen to be a model for other countries to follow, but that we can also use that experience and expertise to help others.”

He said that Ireland ‘has the best demographics of any country in Europe for the next 25 years’ and ‘a tax system that allows for flexibility and for people to invest here’.

Deputy Kenny said he has ‘no interest in looking for either credit or thanks’, adding that in dealing with Ireland’s economic challenges, he does not want a return to the boom years:

He explained: “The Celtic Tiger years were false years. They were built on a veneer of endless wealth without hard work.

“What I want to do is go back to the time before that, to the late 1990s when Ireland was creating a thousand jobs a week, when we were recognised in competitiveness as being in the top three in the world, when we were exporting huge quantities of quality brand products and that’s where we need to get back to.”