Kenny becomes Irish P.M.

DUBLIN, Ireland, March 10 (UPI) -- Enda Kenny, leader of Fine Gael, said Wednesday after winning a record majority vote to become Irish prime minister, said he is governing in "times of crisis."

The Assembly voted 117 to 27 to support Kenny as prime minister, or taoiseach, the title in Irish, The Irish Times reported. His government is a coalition of the center-right Fine Gael and the Labor Party.

"A partnership between Fine Gael and the Labor Party, will have at its heart all of those qualities as it begins the task of getting our country working," Kenny said in his first speech in office.

While he was critical of the "old ways of politics," saying they hurt Ireland financially but also morally and spiritually, Kenny promised to work with other parties. He also promised to tell the public the truth, no matter what the consequences.

"In these times of crisis, full of many unknowns, honesty is not alone our best policy but our only policy," he said.

Ireland was known as the Celtic Tiger during the boom times. But the property market has crashed and the country had to get a bailout from the European Union.