From No 2 to man with the plan

ONE minute he was the witty brains behind Bertie, the next he was Taoiseach. Taoiseach without opposition. Taoiseach by acclaim. Easy peasy.

His initial speeches, delivered with power and passion without notes, seemed to confirm that he was made for the job: Fianna Fáil to his back teeth, filled with excitement in the face of the task, committed to doing everything required of him in a role he clearly cherished. Journalists, for the most part, liked him. He wasn’t a self-publicist, but didn’t seem particularly distrustful of media.

Yet, as the dog days of summer arrived, Brian Cowen’s image is not anywhere close to where it might have been expected to be, where his close friends believe it should be, and where his future success as Taoiseach needs it to be.