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Irish crisis over cancer diagnosis for finance minister Brian Lenihan

NIALL O'DOWD,

IrishCentral.com Publisher

Published Monday, December 28, 2009, 6:55 AM

Updated Monday, December 28, 2009, 7:15 AM

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Brian Lenihan has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

The health condition of Ireland's Minister for Finance is the pressing topic in Ireland this week. Brian Lenihan has been the public face of the budget cuts that have slashed public spending but at the weekend he was in the news on a far more tragic matter when he was diagnosed with a very serious cancer.

I was arriving in Ireland expecting a flood of coverage of the continuing church scandal but that was quickly wiped off the front pages. In Ireland today it seems you are never more than a few minutes away from a fresh crisis somewhere.

Lenihan was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a usually fatal condition, and the furore that the report of his illness set off says a lot about Ireland today. The news was broken by a television station, TV 3, and the fact that they did so caused consternation in much of the other media who probably knew the story but had kept quiet about it for privacy reasons.

The reality is, however, that cutthroat journalism is fast becoming a staple in Ireland as in everywhere else, and TV 3 took advantage of the slow Christmas season to break open a story that has massive implications for Ireland's future.

The downside was that Lenihan apparently had not even told his own teenage children of the diagnosis which it seems was only made in the past few days and was leaked from somewhere, either at the hospital or from his close circle of friends, to the media.

At just 50 years of age, charismatic, good looking and a talented politician even in the eyes of the opposition parties in Ireland, Lenihan seemed to have everything going for himself.

Indeed several newspapers recently have hinted that Lenihan could challenge current Prime Minister Brian Cowen for his job sometime soon. The question now is if he can stay in office much longer while fighting the cancer or who will replace him.

The news of his cancer diagnoses comes at a time when Lenihan had become the public face of the fightback against the economic recession, which still has Ireland in its icy grip.

Lenihan had started poorly in his job – he is a lawyer by training – but had soon grasped the economic fundamentals and was widely praised, especially in The Irish Times for his recent budget.

He was a man about to reach the zenith of his political career from a family long connected at the highest circle in Irish political life. Now, however, comes the awful diagnosis that was splashed over every newspaper here yesterday when it was made public.

It cannot be easy for any human being to read stories about what may be his death warrant as Lenihan had to yesterday, and the sympathy of the nation was clearly with him.

Nster.com

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IrishAndProud | Dec 29, 2009, 09:07 PM EST

I'm not familiar with Mr. Lenihan's politics, but regardless this is a disease I would not wish on anyone, anywhere. I hope and pray that he will be restored to health, and that he and his family will be comforted.

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MickRegan | Dec 28, 2009, 01:28 PM EST

TV3 is owned by Doughty Hanson, Pall Mall, London, and is becoming to television what the UK Daily Star is to newspapers - fairly cheap and tasteless. Whatever we might think of politics this sort of intrusion into an individuals state of health shows low ethical standards. I think the general reaction of ordinary Irish people showed that TV3 may not understand it's audience. That or it's trying to mold Irish viewers to it's way of reporting. Maybe Doughty Hanson are also putting pressure on TV3 to increase ratings, and TV3 think adopting a British media style of operating is the way to go? Hope not, this low end of the scale is of no real value to society.

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kickstar | Dec 28, 2009, 12:51 PM EST

'MurrayGirl ' When you get your living from the Public Purse your life is in the public arena and that is how it should be, If you want privacy go to a monastery or become a monk or just stay out of politics.

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kickstar | Dec 28, 2009, 12:46 PM EST

'TomSwinford ' He is not a competent leader ,The only thing he ever had going for him was his father was a friend of Charlie Haughey and he was a favored son of The Fianna Fáil party because of his Da, So lets not get carried away here That is not to say that I don't Sympathize with him or any one who is given this diagnosis, A family member of my own just passed away recently with the same thing, She was told that when they find the cancer there it is already too late to do much about it She died 6 weeks after the initial discovery.

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MurrayGirl | Dec 28, 2009, 12:34 PM EST

Naill says it best - the media is a cutthroat businness. The press has no regard for anyone's privacy, all they want is to be first to break a story. My prayers to Mr. Lenihan and his family.

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MurrayGirl | Dec 28, 2009, 12:29 PM EST

This is a cruel sentence on one of Ireland's most competent leaders, possibly its most competent. Taking over the Finance Ministry as Ireland headed into the worst financial and economic crisi in its history, his was a baptism of fire and brimstone. His policies and actions are frequently unpopular - and in my opinion he has not been nearly tough enough with the union leaders - yet he stands head and shoulders above most of his comrades in government for being honest and forthrigh with the public. Of course one could argue that in a government of rogues and incompetents the bar is not all that high. Still, the country can ill-afford to lose this man. I pray that he will beat the odds.

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