Real pain has been postponed with reviews here, there and everywhere

ACCORDING to his critics, the Taoiseach Brian Cowen led a charmed existence — until the Lisbon defeat.

Once Fianna Fáil regained power in 1997, he flitted from one ministry to the next leaving behind little by way of a legacy. He dubbed Health “Angola” on account of the landmines that were always going off but left it to his successors Micheál Martin and Mary Harney to introduce and implement radical, career-breaking reforms.

From there it was off to Foreign Affairs where he kept a low profile on the North, delegating the (admittedly tedious) work to officials and junior ministers as the peace process went increasingly sour.