Lenihan advised Cowen on confidence motion

FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan advised Brian Cowen to act aggressively in defending his position by tabling the motion of confidence in his leadership.

A spokeswoman for Mr Lenihan last night said that while the minister would contest the leadership were a vacancy to arise, he would do nothing to “trigger” such a vacancy.

As a result, rather than expressing no confidence in Mr Cowen’s leadership, as Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin did last night, Mr Lenihan instead advised the Taoiseach yesterday on how to survive the challenge.