Lisbon referendum - Cowen has to ensure treaty is ratified

IN the aftermath of the humiliation inflicted on Fianna Fáil and their current but wavering partners the Greens in last week’s elections, emboldened opposition members enjoyed goading government figures, challenging them to immediately call a general election.

“You have lost whatever mandate you had,” was the stick-in-the-eye provocation.

Unflappable as only a cornered and deeply-wounded Fianna Fáil grandee can be, the challenges were dismissed with a combination of bluster and self-righteous scorn by one minister after another.