Leadership in balance as Cowen dealt double blow

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen’s leadership of Fianna Fáil and the country hangs by a thread today with further revelations over his handling of Anglo Irish Bank and a senior minister signalling that the battle for the leadership is not over.

Late last night it emerged former senior Anglo executive David Drumm has claimed Mr Cowen sought to get the National Treasury Management Agency to place money with Anglo in a bid to help the troubled bank — something which Mr Cowen has strenuously denied.

In a further blow to the Taoiseach, Foreign Affairs Minister and potential next leader Micheál Martin has sent a clear signal that the battle for the leadership of Fianna Fáil is not over, urging TDs to “have their say on the future of the party” when they meet with Brian Cowen.

It was also reported last night that former Anglo chief executive Sean FitzPatrick and Mr Drumm called to economist Alan Gray on the day before the bank guarantee to lobby him and on that night Mr Cowen telephoned Mr Gray to ask his advice.

Mr Gray was one of the figures present at the Druids Glen lunch.

The reports quoted Mr Gray as saying he did not lobby for Anglo.

After a feverish day of intrigue in Leinster House, the Taoiseach faced down calls to resign as leader, but said he would engage in a consultation exercise by speaking to any TD who had “concerns”.

And Mr Martin, seen as Mr Cowen’s biggest threat, last night told backbenchers it was “important” to make their views clear to the Taoiseach.

“Minister Martin welcomes the consultation process with members of the parliamentary party that has been initiated by the Taoiseach,” a spokesman for the minister said. “It is important that members use this opportunity to have their say on the future of the party.”

Those comments will fuel speculation that Mr Martin and other ministers are urging Mr Cowen to step down as party leader once the Finance Bill is passed and the Dáil dissolved to facilitate the general election.

In such a scenario, Mr Cowen would continue as a “caretaker taoiseach” until the new Dáil elected his successor, but crucially, Fianna Fáil would go into the election with a new leader.

It was confirmed last night that Mr Martin met with the Taoiseach last Monday, just 24 hours after damaging revelations emerged about previously undisclosed contacts between Mr Cowen and Mr FitzPatrick. At that meeting, a “comprehensive” discussion took place “on the challenges facing the party and the Government”, one source said.

It’s understood Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, regarded as Mr Martin’s main rival in the battle to succeed Mr Cowen, also met with the Taoiseach this week.

But Mr Cowen last night insisted that no minister had urged him to consider his position.

Earlier in the day, Mr Cowen had made it clear to a meeting of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party that he was not resigning.

Just two backbenchers spoke against him at the meeting and none of Mr Cowen’s leadership rivals — Mr Martin, Mr Lenihan or Arts Minister Mary Hanafin — did so.

Mr Cowen acknowledged that “issues” had been raised about his leadership and said he would meet with, or speak to, any TD who wanted to discuss the matter.

However, he stressed he would decide “what I believe to be the collective view of the party”, in what was seen as a riposte to his opponents.

Mr Cowen reiterated that if anybody wished to challenge that, there were party procedures for doing so — a reference to the possibility of Fianna Fáil TDs tabling a motion of no confidence in him.

“But I am committed to leading this party, there is no vacancy, there is no probationary period.”

Mr Cowen also reiterated that he had done nothing wrong during his three contacts with Mr FitzPatrick in 2008 ahead of the Government bailing out Anglo. “To suggest that I have been in any way involved in something nefarious or wrong is totally wrong,” he said.

But coalition partners the Greens said they had fresh concerns over Mr Cowen’s admission to the Dáil on Wednesday that a total of three figures connected to Anglo had been present at one of those contacts — a post-golf dinner at Druid’s Glen in July 2008.

A Green source, however, said for the moment, the party was content to “leave them (Fianna Fáil) at it” in terms of addressing Mr Cowen’s future.