Cowen means to fight on — but for what, and to where?

BRIAN COWEN is going nowhere. Official. It is the one thing everyone in politics agrees on — though they have polar opposite views on what it means.

Mr Cowen believes he is digging in for the long haul, his Dáil mandate — helpfully re-confirmed by Fine Gael’s ill-judged no confidence motion — runs for another three years and he has made it clear he will not be prised out of Government Buildings until the very last second of the parliamentary term.

The opposition, and increasingly anxious backbenchers within his own party, see things differently.