Taoiseach refuses to apologise for crisis

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has refused to bow to opposition demands and apologise to the country for the economic slump.

As he warned unemployment could top 450,000 later this year, Mr Cowen insisted he stood over all his decisions as Taoiseach — and previously as finance minister — and insisted he was not to blame for the jobs and financial crisis, as Ireland was being rocked by a global “economic convulsion”.

Speaking yesterday Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny demanded Mr Cowen acknowledge his personal responsibility for the speed and depth of the economic crisis.