Fianna Fáil’s tactics explain why the country is in such a mess

IN politics, as in life, one does not make friends by insulting people.

Yet this government has, for over two years, been insulting the intelligence of the Irish people. Last week it was utterly nauseating to hear one government spokesman after another telling us that they had made the hard and unpopular decisions in the interest of the country.

This is the most unpopular government in the country’s history, and its members are only deluding themselves with their claims of having made the hard decision. Brian Cowen won the vote of confidence on Tuesday, because he basically caught his party by surprise and upstaged his critics by tabling the motion of confidence in himself, thereby calling their bluff.