Storm in a Y-front over Cowen ‘portrait’

LISTENING to the heavy-handed defence of the Taoiseach by one of his loyal servants on RTÉ’s Today programme, I had to laugh.

The loyal servant huffed and puffed at the manner in which his master was portrayed in that painting. Had the servant and everyone else forgotten that in the hallowed Dáil chamber the Taoiseach was heard to refer to persons unknown as “those f**k**s”?

A picture may say more than a thousand words, but the words spoken by our Taoiseach may well have given rise to that painting. A storm in a Y-front I would call it, and it seems pathetic that an apology was sought from RTÉ for showing the painting, and doubly pathetic that one was given.

Now the matter will be blown out of all proportion instead of focusing on serious matters such as the sackcloth budget to come. Considering the low esteem in which politicians are held, this latest display of their separation from the people they have been elected to serve is all the more regrettable.

Kevin N Power

Wilton Villas

Glasheen Road

Cork