Cowen is the worst Taoiseach ever

NOW that a guaranteed, long overdue general election is in the offing the question arises that, based on his record, can Brian Cowen be said to have been the worst-ever Irish Taoiseach?

In my (and obviously in a lot of other people’s) opinion, it’s clear that he indeed now, by far and away, holds this extremely dubious distinction. After two and a half extraordinarily long years of his appalling, directionless stewardship, this should be clear to all but the most blinkered, dyed-in-the-wool Fianna Fáiler.

One of the main problems with Cowen’s position is that it’s solely predicated on this baseless presumption, which has prevailed since the Charles Haughey era that the Minister for Finance will automatically assume the mantel of Taoiseach once the current incumbent departs the stage.