Life of Brian: Steady hands to grasp top job

IN HIS memoir One Spin on the Merry-Go-Round, former government press secretary Seán Duignan recalls an episode involving Brian Cowen that, to many of those who know him, captures perfectly the next taoiseach.

It was November 16, 1994, the night another taoiseach was preparing to depart — in this case, Albert Reynolds.

Earlier that day in the Dáil, Reynolds had apologised to his coalition partner, Labour leader Dick Spring, over the paedophile priest controversy that was threatening to bring down the government. It wasn’t enough, and Labour pulled the plug.