Taoiseach finally says sorry for crisis

THE Taoiseach has finally said “sorry” for the outcomes of the economic crisis – a word that has escaped him since the banking collapse, financial meltdown and recession hit the country almost two years ago.

Brian Cowen said a Dáil vote of confidence in his leadership last night reaffirmed his mandate, confirmed the Government “should continue to serve the people” and said it was time to “move on”.

But Labour leader, Eamon Gilmore, dismissed this as “the thickest exercise in hard neck politics I’ve heard for some time”.

The Government won last night’s vote with a majority of 82 to 77 in its motion of confidence in Mr Cowen, which was put down in response to a no-confidence motion by Fine Gael.

Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny, made the move last week in the aftermath of two banking reports which said Fianna Fáil policies, under Mr Cowen as Finance Minister, contributed to the property boom and the consequent banking collapse.

Mr Cowen said: “I wish to make it clear in an honest and open manner, that of course I regret and am sorry about the outcomes that have come to pass.” But the opposition had to be “fair and reasonable” and accept that no one had predicted what was coming, he said.

Mr Cowen said the opposition wanted more spending, calling his budgets “measly and scrooge-like”.

He said there were severe failings in the banking and regulatory systems and that the collapse in international financial markets could not have been anticipated.

The Taoiseach said his determination to bring about economic recovery and financial stability will not be shaken “whatever the political consequences”.

Mr Kenny said the “mantra” for Mr Cowen’s political career has been “it is not my fault” and the economic crisis will always carry the logo “made by Fianna Fáil”.

He accused Mr Cowen of “hijacking our Republic” and “handing it over to a toxic circle of bankers, developers and speculators who, like a cancer, have sought to destroy our Republic from the inside out”.

He told Mr Cowen: “If you had any respect for the people whose lives you have destroyed you would already have called an election,” but Mr Cowen was a “true disciple of his predecessor Bertie Ahern, whose reckless policy was to do one thing and one thing only: keep Fianna Fáil in power.”

Mr Gilmore dismissed the motion as a “parliamentary exercise,” calling for reform in how the Dáil operates.

But his party did not vote confidence in the Taoiseach because “it is time for Fianna Fáil to go. It is time for a new start, and a new Government.”

Fianna Fáil ministers hit back at Labour, now the most popular party in the country, with Justice Minister, Dermot Ahern, saying they were sitting on the fence and Foreign Affairs Minister, Micheál Martin, claiming some opposition deputies didn’t even read the banking reports.

Sinn Féin Dáil leader, Caoimhghín O Caoláin, said there was a myth being peddled by Fianna Fáil that “all political parties in the Dáil were part of this collective self-delusion and encouraged the economic policies pursued between 1997 and 2007.” Sinn Féin “repeatedly advocated a radically different direction for the economy,” he said.