In the Eye of the Storm
Find out what Brian Cowen thinks is in store for Ireland in light of the global financial crisis and the government's unpopular decisions on medical cards and education cuts.
Jason O'Toole, 06 Nov 2008
Brian Cowen’s tenure as Taoiseach may have started on a buoyant note in May, but the feelgood factor has since thoroughly evaporated.
Over the past six months, Cowen has had to come to terms with a sequence of disastrous events, some less within the control of the government than others: the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, the alarming downward spiral in the economy, the near collapse of the Irish banking system and the recent controversies surrounding the budget – the latter provoking two TDs to resign their support for the government, primarily as a result of the medical card debacle.
The Taoiseach, still relatively young for a head of government at 48, had only just returned from China when I met him for final part of the Hot Press interview last week. Arriving home from that trip, he was faced with the additional bleak news that the latest opinion polls showed a dramatic slump in support for his government.
He was in good spirits nonetheless. “Obviously, it’s not the basis on which you’d call an election,” he quipped.
We last met at his home in Tullamore, back in August, to clarify key facts for a biography I was close to finishing*. After we had finished discussing the book, the Taoiseach brought me into his kitchen and switched on the kettle to make a cup of tea. As we waited for the kettle to boil, I asked him if he’d do an interview for Hot Press. Typical of the easy-going character of the man I know, he told me to switch on the tape recorder and fire whatever questions I had at him.
Over the next hour and more, he offered his own no bullshit perspective on the social and political issues of the day. He may be a Fianna Fail man through and through, but with Brian Cowen, what you see is what you get. As I was leaving, he agreed that I could come back with some follow-up questions prior to publication, to ensure that the article would be fully up-to-date with current events.
Unfortunately, the turmoil that was unleashed in the meantime meant that there were far more immediately contentious issues to be dealt with when I called again. He didn’t shirk. True to his word, he gave the time needed for the questions I felt that people would want to see asked.
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