Brian Cowen cabinet ‘terrified’ by public anger over austerity

Several ministers in the Brian Cowen government including Cork’s Billy Kelleher and Batt O’Keeffe were physically attacked by angry members of the public as the economic crash engulfed the country, a new book reveals.

The ministers recount the impact on their personal lives of the public outcry over cuts they imposed while in Government in the book, Hell At the Gates by Daniel McConnell and John Lee.

Former junior minister Billy Kelleher recalls an occasion in mid-2010 when he and fellow Cork minister Batt O’Keeffe encountered an angry man on a busy Molesworth St, yards from Leinster House.