Cowen Statement (in case you missed it)
Via Maman Poulet: Brian Cowen’s statement 22/11/010 from maman poulet on Vimeo. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Brian Cowen
RTE cuts live coverage of bailout
Last night, during one of the most significant press conferences in the history of the Irish State, while Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan officially announced the detail of the bailout, predictably enough the Irish twitter stream erupted like nothing I’ve seen before. The near homogeneous fury was of course channelled in the direction of Brian Cowen et al. However, between the hours of approx 7.45pm and 9.30pm RTE appeared to do its best to somehow join Fianna Fail on the stage of pantomime …
“More tea, Eamon?”
In the Irish Times Miriam Lord has a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ report from the main Irish political parties’ consensus meeting yesterday on the budgetary measures needed to get the economic situation under control. From the Irish Times The Taoiseach has an idea. “Right lads. Boutros Boutros Gormley wants harmony. I’ll sing the verses and you two can join in on the chorus. What’ll we sing?” They start to snigger when they think of Gerry Adams locked outside in the cold. (Although this …
“Bartender, politician or comic…?”
Harsh? Probably… Pete Baker
“The purpose of all official speech is not to communicate, but to kill communication.”
In the Irish Times Fintan O’Toole adds his thoughts on Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s under-par performance in that RTÉ radio interview. From the Irish Times If you read the transcript without listening to the voice, Cowen’s interview on Morning Ireland is almost indistinguishable from the one he gave a few days earlier to RTÉ radio’s This Week programme. And that in turn is the same as almost every interview he has given in the last two years. This is not because Cowen …
“This was “effectively a libel”, declared Dermot Ahern, speaking at the opening of a new petrol station.”
Taoiseach Brian Cowen is off to Brussels today. He could do with a break… His party colleagues have been rushing the microphones to congratulate him on his “manly” apology after a somewhat under-par performance in a pre-breakfast radio interview on Tuesday – you can hear that in its full glory here [RealPlayer file]. The iol report has an account of the “confluence of events” responsible… Witnesses at the get-together in Galway said Mr Cowen was among scores of party members, including senior Government …
“But the Irish aren’t showing much gratitude…”
As iol noted, and RTÉ also reports, Newsweek has named Taoiseach Brian Cowen as one of 10 world leaders [or is it 11? – Ed] who “have managed to win serious respect” – “The Fiscal Taskmaster”, no less. They’ve pushed through austerity packages drastic enough to win the admiration of the international community, raised taxes, and slashed some public salaries by more than 10 percent. But the Irish aren’t showing much gratitude–Cowen’s ratings have plunged to a mere 18 percent, and …
“let’s go on a journey and forget about the destination – the destination isn’t really important in that respect”
Former Irish Minister for Justice and Progressive Democrats leader Michael McDowell’s call for the 12th July to be an Irish national holiday makes a cheap, and easy, headline for the RTÉ report. And there may be video from the MacGill Summer School where he made the call. But the RTÉ report also hints at what else he had to say Mr McDowell said that if we were genuine republicans and if the orange panel in the flag meant anything, then …
McParland to become Fianna Fail’s new Deputy General Secretary…
Now here’s a little adjunct to the NI Water affair, but before our resident conspiracy theorists go off on another one, so far as we can tell it is an adjunct. Pat Parland, who is currently head of their Communications team and sits on that controversial board will be leaving NI Water at the end of August to take up a position as Director of Communications (and Deputy General Secretary) at Fianna Fail in Dublin. Hmmm some might say, from …
Cowen: No obstacle to Queen Elizabeth II visit
As RTÉ reports [Updates added] The Taoiseach has indicated that Queen Elizabeth II will probably make a state visit to Ireland before the end of next year. Speaking in London after a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron, Mr Cowen indicated the visit might be before the end of President Mary McAleese’s second term in office at the end of next year. The Taoiseach said that no obstacle now exists to prevent a state visit to Ireland by Britain’s queen …
Some families ask Cowen to help with prosecutions
Interesting snippet from Breaking News which states: Members of the McKinney, Duddy, Nash and Young families held talks with Brian Cowen in Dublin this evening – when they presented him with an original copy of the Saville report, which was published yesterday. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: …