Ahern says Cowen did not do enough to prevent bailout

FORMER Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has launched an astonishing attack on his successor, suggesting Brian Cowen did not do enough to prevent the EU-IMF bailout.

Mr Ahern also accuses Mr Cowen of failing to communicate with the public, and suggests fundamental mistakes have been made.

The attack will be seen as an attempt by Mr Ahern to shore up his own battered legacy and shift the blame for the recession and its aftermath onto Mr Cowen.

Mr Ahern has announced he will not contest the next general election, and said yesterday that a tilt at the presidency in November when Mary McAleese steps down is “not too realistic”.

But he remains intent on defending his legacy from charges that the seeds of economic collapse were sown during his 13 years as Taoiseach.

This is despite the two devastating banking reports published last year, which found Government policies adopted under Mr Ahern’s watch during the boom helped cause the overheating of the economy.

But in an interview yesterday, Mr Ahern said: “I think I would have been good if I was there throughout the crisis. I’m not saying I would have prevented the economic recession. I do think my long experience, and the good contacts I had around the world, would have been helpful. But it wasn’t to be.”

He suggested that Mr Cowen, who succeeded him as Taoiseach after spending four years as his Finance Minister, should have seen warning signs when Greece was bailed out last May.

“I didn’t have the inside story, but I did worry a little bit when I saw the Greek situation happen,” Mr Ahern said.

“I wondered if this would roll on to other countries. I wonder what was going on at the Central Bank and the Department of Finance and the Taoiseach’s Department?

“What contingency plans did they start doing in May when the red lights were flashing?

“Did they not see in May? Were there not things they could have done from May to November to try and avoid the bailout?

“If the answer to that is they did look and there wasn’t a solution, then fine. But I don’t know if they even did take that view and if they did examine all the options.”

Mr Ahern suggested Mr Cowen and his Government made a major mistake by not announcing sooner that a bigger budgetary adjustment would be required than the €3 billion originally envisaged.

“If we had said earlier in the year we’d have made changes of €6bn to the economy, that we would do other structural changes to the economy — basically the things that were announced in December’s Budget — if we had said to the markets in May or June that these were things we were going to do, it could have made a difference.

“My feeling is it probably would have, but maybe the powers that be decided that wasn’t the case.

“That might have taken the wolves from the door — or if the wolves came to the door, then we might have got a better deal.”

Mr Ahern, speaking to the News of the World, also questioned Mr Cowen’s communication strategy.

“I always took the view, and maybe it’s a difference in style, that you go out there every day and you talk to the media and do your bit,” he said. “I did that and I did it all the time. When I went, the guys took a different view. They took the view they wouldn’t go out very often and do the daily doorsteps.

“If you ask me, my view is you’re better doing it my way, but he opted not to do that.

“I do think it’s more important now. You have to communicate.

“We live in a 24/7 Ireland, and while I don’t think the Taoiseach has to be out every hour, he should be out regularly.

“The Taoiseach should be communicating the information that he has. These aren’t secrets. I don’t consider them state secrets.

“And for whatever reason, two and a half years ago, the pattern that I had established stopped and they decided only to do rare ones. The thing is, he’s good at it when he goes out. He showed that in the interviews before Christmas,” Mr Ahern said of the Taoiseach.

Fianna Fáil headquarters declined to comment on Mr Ahern’s views on Mr Cowen.