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.

This is despite Cowen being the previous, discredited Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s right-hand man throughout the years the boom was so spectacularly blown.

For me, a stark lack of concern as to whether something might be perceived as undemocratic or not became particularly pronounced since Cowen’s term began.

A Government concerned about this would have held a general election once Bertie Ahern made his decision to step down as, rightly or wrongly, the electorate voted on a Fianna Fáil with him at the helm in 2007. This fact that the public never sought or asked for Cowen as Taoiseach has particularly grated since the Irish economy went into freefall.

This has been exacerbated by the currently undignified spectacle of him digging his heels and clinging to power despite the fact that about 87% of the Irish people want to see him gone.

The trouble with Cowen is that everything he does makes a given situation worse and the real mystery is what made the Fianna Fáil party blindly elect such an uninspiring person to the highest office in the first place.

Repeatedly Cowen has come across as an unconvincing Taoiseach and has utterly failed in his duty to bring the people along with him. His behaviour has been, in fact, the very antithesis of a statesman. His repeated denial that Ireland faced an IMF/ECB bailout failed, naturally, to convince anyone and spooked the already windy markets even more.

The George W Bush of Irish politics has brought only shame on the office he has held for far too long. It’s scant consolation that we’ll likely be rid of him in a few months.

Every day he continues to shamble ungraciously onwards is a day which further damages the fragile Irish State.

JD Mangan

Stillorgan Rd

Stillorgan

Co Dublin