'People who get up early in the morning': Irish political capital and the resonances of Iarnród Enda (2021)

ABSTRACT This article considers, contrasts and compares the images of three of Ireland’s Taoisigh – Brian Cowen, Enda Kenny, and Leo Varadkar – by situating each Taoiseach along an axis of consumption, stretching from austerity on one hand, to overconsumption on the other. In particular, the popular image of Varadkar is carefully explored, charting how artefacts such as Instagram photos of carefully prepared lunches and birthday celebrations, form a key part of Varadkar’s efforts to position himself as the ardent champion of neoliberalism. Despite such efforts, I argue that it is Kenny who emerges as a paragon of neoliberal citizenship, and thus is an ideal host for 2021 travel history series Iarnród Enda. The article then explores the ideological resonances of the series and its role in rehabilitating the somewhat damaged image of its host, as well as the symbiotic relationship Kenny enjoys with the rural landscape through which he travels, illuminating the function of the series in presenting a consummately neoliberal vision of rural Ireland. Iarnród Enda, I argue, further acts as an extension of existing State campaigns advocating for a relocation from overcrowded, expensive cities into rural hinterlands conceptualised as an entrepreneurial nirvana.