Greens angry at 'bad communication'

Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s communication skills have regularly been called in to question by the Opposition and unidentified disgruntled members of his Fianna Fáil party.

A minister has also broken ranks to expose a total breakdown in relations between the Greens and Mr Cowen’s much larger Fianna Fail party.

Green Party leader John Gormley disclosed he felt the Government was not being completely open with the public and that he was effectively operating under orders.

“I believe that there was bad communication within the Government,” Mr Gormley said.

The Government, and Mr Cowen in particular, has been repeatedly accused of speaking in riddles over the last 10 days and refusing to openly discuss ministerial approaches to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union.

While officials in Brussels leaked details of talks, Mr Gormley admitted the Green ministers were told to stay on message with the line “discussions were taking place but no negotiations” if asked about an IMF intervention.

The Taoiseach first flatly denied Ireland had approached Europe for emergency funds on Friday, November 12 when the newswire Reuters reported talks were ongoing between Ireland and EU officials.

As speculation mounted over the weekend, the Government again issued statements insisting there were “no talks” taking place with senior Government ministers rolled out to deny Ireland was under increased pressure. Justice Minister Dermot Ahern even branded the stories as fiction.

But as Finance Minister Brian Lenihan flew to Brussels to face his EU counterparts, officials from the IMF were quietly planning to pack their suitcases for a trip to Dublin.

Even when the Government finally admitted it would enter discussions with the fund and European Central Bank, Mr Cowen still denied his Government was involved in bail-out talks or covered up negotiations.

It was the Governor of the Central Bank Patrick Honohan who finally revealed he expected Ireland would get a loan worth tens of billions through a rescue package.

Then on Friday morning – a full week after Mr Cowen’s first denial – the IMF began poring over the state’s books. Labour leader Eamon Gilmore demanded the Taoiseach resign in the national interest claiming Ireland had suffered its blackest week since the Civil War.

But it was Sunday before the Government finally admitted Ireland planned to apply for an expected €70bn bail-out loan when a defiant Mr Cowen insisted he was not the bogeyman personally to blame for the meltdown in the State’s economy.

Within 24 hours the Government was thrown into crisis when the Greens called for a general election.