Is cowen the leader we need or just the guy we got....

corkfella

I was just reading the papers over the weekend and some of them notably the indo have given cowen a hard time but he has now gone past 3 monthes in the job so you could say that he is due a review. it seems that after lisbon he has disappeared almost, that laughable cost-cutting measure lenihan announced which is due to be spent in sept when they give it straight over to our greedy public services. Even last week he didnt have much success when dealing with the unions and by all accounts he wasw willing to give in to more wage demands.

so where is the leadership? believe me I know our government is seriously hamstrung by brussels but the very least he could do is face up to the problems and not spout on about the fundamentals being strong when he seem to be losing jobs evrey week. Is bertie's legacy to leave us with a dead duck taoiseach who could be facing an election sooner rather than later?

SkepticOne

No one wanted the job when Ahern resigned. I think Cowen's job is to take the blame for losing the next election.

brianthebard

The signs were there when all the commentators could say about his previous achievements was that he never broke third gear.He's not capable of leading anything tbh.

ejmaztec

The others knew what was in the can and decided that he was the man to carry it. I think that he was so overcome with the euphoria of getting the big job that he didn't see why there were no other takers.

mike65

He was annointed when he got the finance job, remember how Michael Martin was considered the front runner for quite a while before it became clear just what a lightweight he was/is. There is no doubt Cowen wanted the job but as the penny started to drop last year all the potential front-runners made sure to give Brian the thumbs up.

So far there is nothing to suggest he has the fortitude required for the job in hard times, it'll be Lennihan who carries the can, if there is one to be carried, after the budget. If he should frame a good budget and it works guess who will make sure he gets the credit?

Cowens most pressing problem is the same as Brown across the way - he has no mandate so he won't rock the boat.

Mike.

lostexpectation

the times did a hundred days high and lows in their paper last weekend, they weren't very many highs, but there weren't really cowen fault as toiaseach,(may have something to do with him being minsiter of finance though)

Fratton Fred

Talk about a hospital pass.

As with Browne, Bad leaders can hide in good times, but they can't in hard times. Whilst neither may be up to the job, it doesn't necessarily mean they are worse than their predecessors.

irish_bob

i see nothing in the guy at all that is appealing , surly doesnt have to mean strong and steadfast , it can just mean grumpy

he has one thing going for him as regards fighting the next election , enda kenny

manicmonoliths

Was never thrilled when I heard about Cowen becoming taoiseach. Whatever about his background as Minister for Finance, I just don't feel that he's up to leading FF let alone the country. That being said, there's not many in FF who you could say would do a better job. Lenihan maybe?

ninty9er

I expect good things from Cowen, he's a Lemass type character that said "yes Dev/ yes Bertie" but did his own thing when he became Taoiseach.

At this stage the next election still belongs to FF while Enda is the alternative Taoiseach. It is very hard to guage him. Coughlan is the one I would have down as a very strong leader, she neither spouts nor tolerates any sh1t.

It's all well and good talking about job losses and comparing to countries across Europe doing well now, because their public finances were in meltdown while we were still on the Celtig Tiger's tail.

Just like any of us he's entitled to a holiday, so I expect we'll see a bit more of him when the Dáil is recalled early.

I can say easily that he has the full support of his local organisation and the national organisation, though there are people who would have liked to see others lead.

Irrespective of party allegiances, he's probably the best we've got, and before anybody trots out the old "the people get the government they deserve" chestnut, they get the opposition they deserve too;).

"Well I didn't vote for them" just doesn't stand up, because if you voted, you voted for someone, and we ain't got a spectacular opposition.

dresden8

ninty9er wrote: »

Coughlan is the one I would have down as a very strong leader, she neither spouts nor tolerates any sh1t.

She ran scared from Joe Duffy over the widows.

ninty9er

dresden8 wrote: »

She ran scared from Joe Duffy over the widows.

Anyone can run scared, even those who haven't had a sniff of a ministerial post other than tourism in the last 20 years. In a small round table meeting myself an a few lads had with her, we were left feeling very at ease and she knows her brief inside out. Plus even when she was only elected a few years they sent her to Limerick to sort out Willie and the Limerick East CDC debacle when he was thrown out of the party.

brianthebard

Trotting out the party line and blindly following isn't going to help the country.Coughlan did feck all for farmers,shes ignored her constituents pleas to keep cancer services in sligo and i hope she crashes and burns very soon.

corkfella

you're having a laugh about coughlan, she was terrible in agriculture and smiling away at the cameras is not the answer to the country's problems. her gaff about the eu commissioners pretty much sums her abilities up in my opinion...

Mr.Micro

Cowen last seen in a caravan on holiday until it all blows over, leaving the dozy Tanaiste to try and shore up our economy. Ahern got out in time, no surprises there, now its up to Cowen to take the helm. Reshuffle now and start with Coughlan, she does not have a clue, and get some proper people in, if that is possible to look after the country. FF are soft too much of the good times and never saved for the bad.

ninty9er

brianthebard wrote: »

Trotting out the party line and blindly following isn't going to help the country.Coughlan did feck all for farmers,shes ignored her constituents pleas to keep cancer services in sligo and i hope she crashes and burns very soon.

She actually knew agriculture inside out....always available to the farmers but not being afraid to piss of the farmers and not give a **** is the epitome of what you people are LOOKING for in a politician...BALLS!

Cancer care is not viable in every hospital in the country, or even a fraction of them. When are people going to cop on to that?

Économiste Monétaire

ninty9er wrote: »

Cancer care is not viable in every hospital in the country, or even a fraction of them. When are people going to cop on to that?

They won't and never will. People view access to health care as a right that should be provided without thought of the cost. They assume the HSE budget is a limitless black hole. The HSE allocates limited resources in the manner they deem most efficient (that's is the point of contention) - that means not all services are viable, everywhere.

milmo

Just the guy we got. FF were falling over themselves to express loyalty to the guy as if he was the new godfather in the aftermath of a mafia war.

Kept going on about his intelligence, ability etc, etc, etc. but I must say that neither have particularly stood out whenever I have come across him in the media. As stated by others, he didn't seem to do much in any of his ministeries. I all I see is a bit of a small town bully tbh, and this perhaps appeals to certain parts of FF psyche. Hope for the country's sake that I'm wrong.

Personally, I always prefer a leadership contest regardless of the party

ninty9er

milmo wrote: »

Personally, I always prefer a leadership contest regardless of the party

It would have been a bit of fun if nothing else, but I do agree.

Liam Byrne

Certainly looks like we went from a yes-man to a no-ideas man.....Cowen has a reputation of being a straight talker, but so far he's definitely not an ideas man - at least not when things go wrong.

FF rode the coat-tails of the cash-rich boom, and now whatever little bit of cop-on or management ability they might have had in the past seems to be gone awol.

Of course, when all the cash was there they just hired consultant after consultant to do / decide what they were supposed to do.....

Firetrap

Strikes me that Bertie Ahern again proved to be the most cunning and devious of them all by getting out while the going was good.

I've no doubt that things would be the same right now regardless of who was in charge of the country. Our economy has been over-dependent on a property bubble for several years. Of course, things haven't been helped by the international credit crunch.

Cowen's getting a very rough time from the Sindo. A far rougher time than Bertie Ahern ever got. Perhaps he should get his daughters to marry boyband singers and write chick lit. Things like that will always grease the wheels of the celeb obsessed Sindo.

He'll always be perceived to be the guy we got because he got the job unopposed. Only facing a competition for the job and an election will ever get rid of that perception. By coincidence (or perhaps not) Gordon Brown's suffering exactly the same fate in the UK.

mike65

He's not doing himself any favour atm, keeping shtum while on hollidays might seem wise to him (strong and aloof from hysteria, no need to panic etc) but it surly creates a bad vibe when Willie O'Dea is the one being sent out to bat in his place. Its not like when Cowan reappears he'll be full of dynamic ideas anyway.

Mike.

SkepticOne

Firetrap wrote: »

I've no doubt that things would be the same right now regardless of who was in charge of the country. Our economy has been over-dependent on a property bubble for several years. Of course, things haven't been helped by the international credit crunch.

Cowen's getting a very rough time from the Sindo. A far rougher time than Bertie Ahern ever got. Perhaps he should get his daughters to marry boyband singers and write chick lit. Things like that will always grease the wheels of the celeb obsessed Sindo.

Unfortunately it is the person who is around when the inevitable **** hits the fan that gets the hard time, not the person who, through inaction and pandering to vested interests caused the problem in the first place.