Conor Lenihan on Vincent Browne tonight

hotmail.com

So to sum up what Lenihan revealed tonight:

1. He wants Cowen to resign.
2. He's going to consider his position in the morning.
3. He was disappointed with Brian's decision to back Cowen in the confidence motion.

Did I miss anything?

Devilman40k

ArtSmart wrote: »

cowen cant fire him - would backfire.


ah, great to see a bit of hair flying. if only we could see some fookin banker hair flying...

In fairness I think we're Way past things backfiring on Cowen

eoinbn

20Cent wrote: »

Strange how Conor can go from ready for a scrap to buddy again so quickly. Excellent actor. His turning will backfire though hitting out at Cowan and even his brother to save himself.

Well he has every right to hit out at both. There is no need to explain Cowen's error's and Brian Lenihan made a huge error backing Cowen. I can't see Cowen surviving today's blunders and will be gone within days, if not hours. The only person that really can lead the party(personally would like to see it disband) is now Martin as B.Lenihan has made a huge ass of himself by misleading the guys that he needs to vote him in as leader.

lugha

zig wrote: »

I noticed that too, completely lost the head and a few seconds later hes answering the next question in a calm polite manner again.

I think he gets that from Auntie Mammy; I've seen her do that more than once. For some reason tonight I really noticed the similarity between Mary and Conor, especially in voice.
Bizarre performance all told. Hugely enjoyable mind.

ArtSmart

Devilman40k wrote: »

In fairness I think we're W

Devilman40k

ArtSmart wrote: »

Bloody mobile...edited above

20Cent

eoinbn wrote: »

Well he has every right to hit out at both. There is no need to explain Cowen's error's and Brian Lenihan made a huge error backing Cowen. I can't see Cowen surviving today's blunders and will be gone within days, if not hours. The only person that really can lead the party(personally would like to see it disband) is now Martin as B.Lenihan has made a huge ass of himself by misleading the guys that he needs to vote him in as leader.

Bit late to be hitting out now. Wish he showed some of that anger earlier, that is if it is genuine. I think not. They are all over the tv and radio when their jobs are on the line shouting and fighting. Kept pretty quiet as the IMF/ECB took over the country, rolled over for the banks/developers etc

Wide Road

zig wrote: »

I noticed that too, completely lost the head and a few seconds later hes answering the next question in a calm polite manner again.

Conor is brilliant like that.
He really made Vincent sound like an idiot.
Vincent uses too many words to make a simple point.

SB-08

Lenny's outbust was was an astonishing end to an astonishing day. He was nearly having a breakdown and I expected violence at one point. :eek:

Vinny riled him up to an unbelievable extent. And then when he said he would take Vinny on in relation to his accusations Vinny said "You can take me full on all you bloody like!":D

He HAS to be sacked in the morning for his amazing attack on Cowen today. "He can sack me if he wants" is what he shouted.

People say Eastenders is unrealistic but today in Irish politics has surpassed any kind of soap opera. Astonishing stuff.

On a side note - why does Conor keep looking over at the other guests constantly when ranting? It's very odd.

Drummerboy2

Great TV. What an act young Conor is. “Back off Vincent”. What a line. Have to say VB has made this a great show, don't know how he actually gets politicians to appear on it.

Liam Byrne

Wide Road wrote: »

Conor is brilliant like that.
He really made Vincent sound like an idiot.
Vincent uses too many words to make a simple point.

Agreed on the last line.

Browne has the right ideas - exposing self-interest and double-standards - but he sometimes loses the run of himself and as a result sounds unreasonable, thereby letting the interviewee play the victim.

Instead of letting the question hang and letting the viewer draw the obvious conclusions when the interviewee dodges the question or changes the subject, Browne seems to feel the need to hammer home what he's spotted so that he looks clever.

Mind you, given some people's view of the crisis, maybe there unfortunately are people who can't join the dots and need stuff spelt out to them.

But Lenihan's tactic was simply to shout Browne down in a typical FF "I don't accept that" fashion.

Car crash TV, and a sad indictment of what passes for politics in this country.

hotmail.com

VB was basically making the point that the national interest often coincides with the personal interests of individual politicians.

Anyone that knows anything about Irish politics knows that this is 100% factual.

Now for Lenihan he made the point that he does not support Cowen but won't resign for the sake of the national interest.

VB challenged him on this and Lenihan lost the plot, with a view to holding onto his seat in Dublin South West.

Like Elaine Byrne said afterwards, where was all this passion for the last 3 years?

hinault

Vincent Browne did seem to get under the collars of Dan Boyle and Conor Lenihan.

Lenihan took extreme umbrage at the questions posed by Vincent Browne and his reaction seemed to be genuine annoyance.
I do take the point that others have made about how quickly Lenihan seemed to calm down.

It is hard to know if Lenihans annoyance was actually genuine.

Browne was correct though, if Lenihan opposes Cowen why not simply resign?

goat2

i have to admit i have great respect for lenihan tonight, i thought he would walk out he got so revved up, but fair dues he was good, i do think vb brought out the real person no acting there just the real thing, the programme was so good it felt like it was on for only 15 minuits instead of the longer period of over an hour, mr lenihan has earned a bit of respect tonight, he was brilliant

Jim Stark

Judgement Day wrote: »

Jeez, gone fierce quiet now. I wonder will Vincent throw some petrol on Dan Boyle again before lights out?

Haha, VB was like a bulldog tonight. He really tore into Dan Boyle, and Lil' Lenihan, to the point I thought one of them was going to lunge across the desk for him! In fairness to Brown, he never loses his cool.

bhovaspack

goat2 wrote: »

i have to admit i have great respect for lenihan tonight, i thought he would walk out he got so revved up, but fair dues he was good, i do think vb brought out the real person no acting there just the real thing, the programme was so good it felt like it was on for only 15 minuits instead of the longer period of over an hour, mr lenihan has earned a bit of respect tonight, he was brilliant

Hmm. Not convinced myself. I consider him and his ilk duplicitous to the point where they no longer even realise themselves when they are lying.

Clip is now on the tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHtOp8gBFmc

hotmail.com

goat2 wrote: »

i have to admit i have great respect for lenihan tonight, i thought he would walk out he got so revved up, but fair dues he was good, i do think vb brought out the real person no acting there just the real thing, the programme was so good it felt like it was on for only 15 minuits instead of the longer period of over an hour, mr lenihan has earned a bit of respect tonight, he was brilliant

Brilliant or mad?

goat2

hotmail.com wrote: »

Brilliant or mad?

brilliant,
sometimes the best can be brought out in people when they are angry,

hinault

bhovaspack wrote: »

Hmm. Not convinced myself. I consider him and his ilk duplicitous to the point where they no longer even realise themselves when they are lying.

Clip is now on the tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHtOp8gBFmc

If Lenihan had the courage of his convictions about opposing the leadership of Cowen, he would resign.

Cake and eating it springs to mind.

lugha

goat2 wrote: »

i have to admit i have great respect for lenihan tonight, i thought he would walk out he got so revved up, but fair dues he was good, i do think vb brought out the real person no acting there just the real thing, the programme was so good it felt like it was on for only 15 minuits instead of the longer period of over an hour, mr lenihan has earned a bit of respect tonight, he was brilliant

Oh please :rolleyes:. He didn't even try to disguise that his concern (lets be charitable and assume it was genuine) was for the future of FF. He did occasionally have enough shame to add in the odd "and the country" when he contemplated the bleakness of the future. But his greatest concerns were for his beloved party.

hotmail.com

goat2 wrote: »

brilliant,
sometimes the best can be brought out in people when they are angry,

You are aware there's an election in 7 weeks. I think you've fallen for this cynical piece of theatre to secure his seat in Dublin South West.

Slideshowbob

Wide Road wrote: »

Conor is brilliant like that.
He really made Vincent sound like an idiot.
Vincent uses too many words to make a simple point.

Have to disagree entirely with u on that. I'd say it's the other way round

steelcityblues

goat2 wrote: »

brilliant,
sometimes the best can be brought out in people when they are angry,

Shame it wasn't there in 2008, 2009 or 2010.

Sir Oxman

hotmail.com wrote: »

VB was basically making the point that the national interest often coincides with the personal interests of individual politicians.

Anyone that knows anything about Irish politics knows that this is 100% factual.

Now for Lenihan he made the point that he does not support Cowen but won't resign for the sake of the national interest.

VB challenged him on this and Lenihan lost the plot, with a view to holding onto his seat in Dublin South West.

Like Elaine Byrne said afterwards, where was all this passion for the last 3 years?

Yes, he managed despite looking like he was heading for a coronary, to slip in 'Tallaght' the major part of his constituency.
The guy's a joke and ever was thus. He trotted through every govt lobby over the past three years specifically, so don't mind if I don't take his umbrage too seriously.
Remember too, that his FF rival in DubSW is Charlie O Connor who nailed his colours to the Cowen mast emphatically since last weekend (maybe poor old Charlie was offered a spot at the cabinet table) so Lenihan is going to ramp up the anti-Cowen claptrap as much as possible to save his own lizardy skin.
Rats, each and every one of them

Wide Road

Jim Stark wrote: »

H
In fairness to Brown, he never loses his cool.

Are you having a laugh?
He lost it several times.
Why can't he ask all the party's the same questions?

Jim Stark

SB-08 wrote: »

He HAS to be sacked in the morning for his amazing attack on Cowen today. "He can sack me if he wants" is what he shouted.

On a side note - why does Conor keep looking over at the other guests constantly when ranting? It's very odd.

I noticed that about Conor too, it was like; "Am I getting away with this, is everyone actually buying all this bs I'm spouting right now?"

I don't think his brother will be too pleased with him either, on top of Cowen, with Vincent coaxing an admittance of disappointment, and then Vincent followed up like a vulture; although I think he was just having fun at this stage, by asking Conor if he would support his brother for Taoiseach! Very funny!

Wide Road

Slideshowbob wrote: »

Have to disagree entirely with u on that. I'd say it's the other way round

Count Vincents words after.

hinault

SB-08 wrote: »

On a side note - why does Conor keep looking over at the other guests constantly when ranting? It's very odd.

He seemed to keep looking in Dan Boyles direction, for some reason

jank

Expect to see alot of this in the next few weeks. Alot of them know they are done for good so it will be every man for himself. The line "Im in it for the public server" is one that will be well beaten!

Liam Byrne

Wide Road wrote: »

Are you having a laugh?
He lost it several times.
Why can't he ask all the party's the same questions?

Probably because all parties are answerable for their own actions?

"Enda, why did you lie to the tribunal investigating you?" doesn't make a lot of sense, now does it?

Or "Eamonn, what did you discuss at that clandestine meeting in Sept '08?"

How about "Pat Rabbitte, why did you resign as a Minister today? Is it to get the higher pension?"

Jim Stark

Wide Road wrote: »

Are you having a laugh?
He lost it several times.
Why can't he ask all the party's the same questions?

The only laugh I'm having is at the thrashing both Dan Boyle, and Conor Lenihan received tonight, and rightly so, in the name of exposing their failings in their positions, and their pathetic self-preserving tactics.

Never have I seen Vincent Browne lose the head like the other two, tonight, or any show before.

I also don't get this appraisal of Conor Lenihan tonight for his display of "passion". All I see is a cat in the corner with it's claws out, and that refers to Brian Cowen also.
We need more people who are passionate about doing good for the country, and not just themselves and their own party.

filthymcnasty

+1

We can probably expect to see more of this contrived indignation from FF'ers (and others) in the next few weeks- it detracts from real issues while giving an illusion that because they lose the head this some how makes them 'passionate'. Biffo does it a lot.

Also it gets attention and presumably makes them feel better about themselves.

SB-08

Wide Road wrote: »

Are you having a laugh?
He lost it several times.
Why can't he ask all the party's the same questions?

Are you for real? Vincent attacks every party constantly. He is always attacking Labour, FG and SF too. Constantly. To such an extent in fact it is hard to know how he will vote for any of them. He's probably the type that will vote Independent.

leincar

Here is a you tube link.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8kdnjvFg4E

JonathanAnon

Reminded me a bit of Paul Gogarty when he was accused of being insincere by Emmett Stagg. tbh, it is a bit rich Conor expecting people to take credence in what he says since he has been quiet about Cowen for almost the full five year term of the Dáil... He was defending Cowen on VBs show earlier this week ffs...

And now expects people not to think his three day 180 degree turn is a cynical attempt at vote getting in the coming election. He's had FIVE YEARS to let people know that he had issues with Cowens leadership, and it does seem like it's the "happy coincidence" that Vincent portrayed it as..

Devilman40k

Hes turning the screw on Cowen again on Pat Kenny... backbenchers were offered Ministerial posts as early as last Friday!!!

What the hell did Cowen think he was playing at?? :mad:

Cartman78

He's really trying to save his ass now....too late i'm afraid to convince anyone other than himself.

Dan Boyle must be relieved that Conor stole all the limelight - Vincent Browne tore him to pieces last night. He tweeted this "sendboyle Dan Boyle
Horrible horrible day but at least we now have certainty about election date and the new Cabinet appointments weren't made." before going on the show - I'd say he's in a catatonic state this morning

JonathanAnon

Devilman40k wrote: »

Hes turning the screw on Cowen again on Pat Kenny... backbenchers were offered Ministerial posts as early as last Friday!!! What the hell did Cowen think he was playing at?? :mad:

Yeah he's effectively said that he believes the Green's side of the story.. i.e. that they left the Taoiseach in no uncertain terms with the opinion that they would not approve of him refilling the front benches five weeks before the election.... very damaging for Cowen personally...

SB-08

I think it is his intention to appear on every TV/Radio show demanding Cowen resign until Cowen gives in. Cowen will never go though. When FF lose the election he will announce that he doesn't accept that result and feels it was a stunt by the media to mis-represent the facts and how it is his firm belief that FF had actually won the election. They will have to physically remove him from his office.:mad:

Devilman40k

JonathanAnon wrote: »

Yeah he's effectively said that he believes the Green's side of the story.. i.e. that they left the Taoiseach in no uncertain terms with the opinion that they would not approve of him refilling the front benches five weeks before the election.... very damaging for Cowen personally...

If anything the Greens come out of this with an ounce of dignity (not much I know) and Cowen finally has his bully boy tactics exposed to the world !

I don't think March 11th will be the election date with all the back-biting and in-fighting. I wouldn't be surprised to see the dail dissolved by the end of next week!

SB-08

Devilman40k wrote: »

If anything the Greens come out of this with an ounce of dignity (not much I know) and Cowen finally has his bully boy tactics exposed to the world !

I don't think March 11th will be the election date with all the back-biting and in-fighting. I wouldn't be surprised to see the dail dissolved by the end of next week!

I agree - it is highly unlikely this Govt will last until then. There is a very strong chance of a NO confidence motion being placed on Cowen this coming Tuesday. Getting 18 signitures will be very easy and with people who voted for Cowen now wanting him gone - he has no chance whatsoever. I think the chances of Brian Lenihan now telling Cowen to just step down are highly likely.

flutered

Slideshowbob wrote: »

He actually scared me tonight - came across as a psycho

From livid to laughing in 60 secs - is that the capability of normal people??? This is a serious question if anyone can answer

this seems to be the norm for members of the dispicable party.

SB-08

According to Kevin Doyle from the Herald - Conor Lenihan has said Cowen "has not a shred of credibility left" & has done a "catastrophic disservice to politics".

Erm, while he is not wrong in what he says - surely this applies to all of FF who have voted through all of the disastrous policies that have ruined the country and brought in the IMF? Does he really believe FF as a whole have any credibility left or have done a good service to politics over the past few years?:rolleyes:

Devilman40k

SB-08 wrote: »

I agree - it is highly unlikely this Govt will last until then. There is a very strong chance of a NO confidence motion being placed on Cowen this coming Tuesday. Getting 18 signitures will be very easy and with people who voted for Cowen now wanting him gone - he has no chance whatsoever. I think the chances of Brian Lenihan now telling Cowen to just step down are highly likely.

He probably will and maybe by 1 o'clock today ...cue Sean O'Rourke interview again! But considering Conors damning of his own brother last night, Brian Lenihan's only hope now is to weigh in behind Martin and maybe rebuild the party together in their own image

smokingman

Missed the show but I'd be curious to see if Vinny tried to troll Lenny on the debacle with supporting the book launch of a creationist anti-science book....when he was the science minister...

The guy is a dim-witted fool imo and while I'm no fan of Vinny, I'm looking forward to watching him tear that clown a new one.

SB-08

Devilman40k wrote: »

He probably will and maybe by 1 o'clock today ...cue Sean O'Rourke interview again! But considering Conors damning of his own brother last night, Brian Lenihan's only hope now is to weigh in behind Martin and maybe rebuild the party together in their own image

Yes, Lenny has been too damaged and Hanny is totally out of the question. Martin is the only option to take over at this stage - and considering Martin was annoyed about Cowen's handling of the IMF announcement- he will surely be fuming by yesterday's events therefor be very much riled up and ready to challenge yet again.

The option of Cowen remaining Taoiseach like Martin wanted are no longer even remotely credible. FF's best strategy now is to oust Cowen - the election to be held in 3-4 weeks time and for them to attack Cowen and blame him on everything to try to promote the idea of change. It won't work as such but they would do slightly better if they had such a stategy. They need to distance themselves from Cowen as much as possible. As someone commented yesterday - one would have to now assume that Cowen is actually a FG Mole placed in FF with the sole intention to do as much damage to the party as possible. It is amazing.

Another thing - why has Cowen still not sacked Conor Lenihan? He has essentially said Cowen has dis-respected the office of Taoiseach - this is no longer a matter of FF leadership - Lenihan is now of the view that Cowen is no longer fit to be the Taoiseach which is a totally different and far more damaging position. Conor has challenged Cowen to sack him and appears to be goading him - further evidence that Cowen is no longer in the right frame of mind and must go now.

jonsnow

Everyones praising Vincent Brownes performance as masterful last night and while it was good he also kept trying to downplay the importance of yesterday - saying it was a relatively minor miscalculation by Cowen thats been blown out of proportion by the armageddon type atmosphere in the country and is just the proverbial straw.Compared to his pet hobby horse of social equality etc. etc.it is a storm in a teacup that will all be forgotten soon.

Yesterday and the last week will NEVER be forgotten.It is the historic and farcical low-point of our bankrupt political system and classes.Double-jobbing ministers during a massive crisis, ingrained stroke pulling,the nua -fianna failers blowing their chances of reforming their party and ensuring its survival in order to get seats at the big table for 8 weeks from the guy they have been maneuvering against for years,senior FF figures telling us that they had no faith in Cowen as leader of Fianna Fail but they did have confidence in him as taoiseach,noone in government playing a blind bit of notice to Sarkozys attack on our corporate tax rate which is keeping our exports booming because internal FF party interests trump the national interest .This is the fall of Rome.How did we ever take these people seriously.Browne didnt seem to register that.

For what its worth i thought Elaine Byrnes icy contempt for Lenihan/Boyle and for our political classes in general was much better than Brownes histrionics.

DJCR

SB-08 wrote: »

FF's best strategy now is to oust Cowen

And who will replace him? Who wants to lead the Party into their biggest ever defeat?
FF are better off getting battered and then re-emerging after the election with a new leader, shadow cabinet (I'm assuming they will be the largest party in opposition - though I admit that, thats not a sure thing at all)
and most importantly new, younger candidates, to leave the cronyism behind.

Vincent gave Connor L an aweful time of it tonight, I mean he really should learn to drop it when he hits a dead end. Did he ask Dan Boyle about the next election at all? Is he even running, what are the greens at?

gandalf

jonsnow Vincent Browne is far from perfect but he is head and shoulders over the interviewers on RTE who almost genuflect before the senior members of Fianna Fail. From my perspective he spends too much time waffling himself and doesn't let some of his panellists get enough airtime to express themselves. I agree with you about Elaine Byrne whose clinical analysis landed far more direct hits than Browne did. I suppose you could say that Vincent Browne is like a boxer who comes out swinging wildly from the offset of a boxing match. He flings so many punches around that he has to every now and then land a knockout blow.

My wife cannot stand him and there was a groan from her last night when I switched the show on. However she sat there mesmerized as the car crash of a show unfolded. She said she nearly expected Conor Lenihan to have a heart attack on air he was appearing to get worked up so much. She like others then turned around and said "hmmm he has calmed down very quickly".

the groutch

DJCR wrote: »

Vincent gave Connor L an aweful time of it tonight, I mean he really should learn to drop it when he hits a dead end. Did he ask Dan Boyle about the next election at all? Is he even running, what are the greens at?

Vinny has said that he expects the greens to lose every seat, which is why he probably doesnt take much of an interest in the going forward