Irish Prime Minster Brian Cowen survives challenge

Brian Cowen will lead party into upcoming general election

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Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen

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READ MORE- Finance Minister’s backing of Brian Cowen may quash hopes of ousting PM

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen survived a vote of confidence in himself during a Fianna Fail party meeting in Dublin on Tuesday.

Cowen had been challenged by Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin, but successfully repulsed his bid to remain as the leader of Fianna Fail.

Following the result of the motion, Micheal Martin resigned from his position with the Government.

The outcome was no great surprise with most pundits believing the party would stick with Cowen through the upcoming election.

Martin had claimed that the party had handled the IMF/EU bailout very poorly and needed a new leader.

Last Sunday Martin announced that he wanted to remove Cowen from leadership. He also said that he had offered his resignation to Cowen but it had been rejected. Martin had confirmed that he intended to vote against Cowen’s vote of confidence in himself on Tuesday.

Paddy Power bookmakers were  backing Cowen to retain his leadership. They rated him a 1-5 shot meaning, there was only a 20 per cent chance of him losing while Martin was 3/1.

Martin and the Minister for Tourism and Culture Mary Hanafin both expressed interest in taking over as leader of the Fianna Fail party.

It is believed that Cowen, having spoken with the Fianna Fail party members felt that he could win.  Martin had faced an uphill challenge in trying to find enough rebels to oust the party leader.

READ MORE- Finance Minister’s backing of Brian Cowen may quash hopes of ousting PM

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