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by Niall O'Dowd

Brian Cowen gets the blame but Irish people need to look in the mirror too

Posted on Sunday, January 23, 2011 at 05:49 PM
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Brian Cowen is not the only person responsible for the downfall of the Irish economy.

That will come as a surprise to many who have followed the Irish media over the past few months.

Reading the media you would think he personally ordered the collapse of the Celtic Tiger all on his own.

He has been vilified from pillar to post and now limps from office no doubt a deeply disappointed man.

But the Irish should really begin to look somewhere else for somebody to blame

Like looking in the mirror at themselves.

Brian Cowen did not come from outer space.

Neither did the financial crisis he inherited when he took office a little over two years ago.

The cozy cartel of corruption that built up in Ireland was fueled by essentially one party government.

For twenty two of the last 24 years, Fianna Fail has been in power. They were voted in time and again.

It had become obvious for decades that re-electing Fianna Fail in every election was having a corrosive impact on Irish politics

Back in the 1980s former Prime Minister Charles Haughey was deeply corrupt a fact that was suspected if not outright known by voters when they continued to re-elect him.

Planning scandals, pay offs, so called brown envelopes were a feauture of his time in office.

By the time of the Celtic Tiger a golden circle of cronies in business and politics was in place.

Prime Minster Bertie Ahern was clearly caught up in it all as well.

Several inquiries found a vast trove of evidence that secret deals were part and parcel of the way the government operated.

Yet voters continued to elect him and Fianna Fail won the last election in 2007 when there was widespread knowledge that corruption was rampant and banks were completely foolhardy in their behavior.

Still 44 per cent of the Irish electorate voted for Fianna Fail.

Brian Cowen inherited all of that.

Sure he was Minister for Finance and must share the blame.

He was personally honest but that hardly mattered as the system he inherited and served was deeply flawed to begin with and he had no reformer's zeal.

Now he is carrying the can for all that went before as well as his own sins.

But voters knew well that Fianna Fail for decades even were carrying on in a corrupt fashion and a charmed circle of insiders were benefiting greatly.

So they can blame themselves as well for all that has happened.

People get the government they deserve after all.



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36 Comments

15 - 36 | See all comments

Towngate | Jan 30, 2011, 11:05 PM EST
GREETINGS bonjouryall from Europe to y'all here. I find your Comment very interesting as background information not often expressed here! Thanks. - - - However, in just you last sentence you 'slip off the railtrack' a little: - - - The Bailout Loan Funds currently saving Ireland from declaring itself bankrupt, comes from The European Union,(my taxes!) the worldwide International Monetary Fund (yours and my taxes!) and a voluntary offer of a quite separate 'Private bi-lateral' loan from Great Britain (my taxes, again!) - which is in ADDITION to the contribution she is already making as a Member of the EU/IMF. - - - This was offered "in respect of the close Social, Domestic and Economic ties she has with a friendly State and nearest neighbour". - - - Don't be embarrassed about your nasty side-swipe at "British Landlords" - she has broad strong shoulders - just concentrate on the fact that Ireland has lost its Credit Standing which prevents it from borrowing for itself, and worse still; with a population of just over three million, and a tiny workforce, it can never earn enough to repay the BailoutLoan in the foreseeable future! - - - I hope this gets you back on track,and if you really do care about the Irish Republic - Pray for a Miracle! - - - Come back. y'all

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bonjouryall | Jan 30, 2011, 06:56 PM EST
Mr. O'Dowd's comments hit home. I'm from Louisiana and we enjoyed the oil boom of the late 1970's and early 80's. Our slogan about the rest of the US was let them freeze in the dark if they didn't pay. In 1982, the oil market completely flipped and bankruptcy became the order of the day for the American Southwest. This prompted the saving and loan crisis of that day. We changed our chant to promise the Lord we would not spend it all if we got another chance. The Govt took over the dissolution of the companies, which cost money, but there were no bailouts. The men running the regional financial institutions remembered this and returned to conservative lending practices. While the current downturn has affected their profits, they have generally fared ok and our regional foreclosure rate is not bad. One even advertised its willingness to lend at the height of the fiscal crisis in a billboard on a major highway. My point is that, in time, once Ireland repays their British landlords-pardon me, I mean bankers - they can recover and it will likely be a stronger country for it.

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kateomprint | Jan 29, 2011, 07:54 PM EST
Feck off Niall would not and never have voted Fianna Fail. How you heap accolades on Brian Cowen. Listened to Bertie Aherne on an interview and he talks about the people taking cuts in their wages "who are these people he talks about". How far removed these ass wipes are from reality that they talk about the people who have elected them as "they". The brudder would be horrified with you Naill

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sirpeter | Jan 26, 2011, 02:48 PM EST
F*ckface..I said i COULD name 100 and that's a fact buster..I didn't say i was going to name them.Ajreaper I didn't say there were many pr*cks on this site..I said you were just another pr*ck on this site.Is there any part of the English language you can interpret correctly at all. I think it's you who needs the meds..But there is no meds for dumbness. BTW..I haven't really started calling you names yet.

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Ajreaper | Jan 25, 2011, 04:44 PM EST
Mamaginnty and the price is right! Sirpeter is ok when he takes his meds ;)

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mamaginnty | Jan 25, 2011, 04:33 PM EST
For a change I am not getting involved in this one, can't name any main party as I think they are all spouting sh.t Just want to say I enjoy SIRPETER and his best mate AJREAPER, they really do love one another ...really ??

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BeepBeep2 | Jan 25, 2011, 02:58 PM EST
We had the same thing over here, why should the Irish be immune?

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Ajreaper | Jan 25, 2011, 10:46 AM EST
LOL, typical sirpeter make a statement, get called on it then you want to call me names. You claimed you could name 100 set up by the U.S. alone- YOU said that, no one put words in your mouth or typed it out for you- I wonder why you think there's so many pr*cks on this site? Others calling you out on the stupid claims you make? If you want to throw things out as fact be prepared to have to back up your claims if not you'll just have to get use to all us pr*cks here.

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ancavker | Jan 25, 2011, 09:24 AM EST
seamus:But hey are to blame for the reckless out of control spending that so many engaged in; just like in the U.S.

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Dublinjas | Jan 25, 2011, 01:46 AM EST
There was going to be no Election until the Budget was passed so when the deal was reached on passing the law to push through the Budget.Then the true Masters of Ireland the ECB/IMF did not care when the Election was called. This Budget should not have been allowed to be passed by this Gombeen Government that has the support of Nobody. Just watch closely and you will see who is cracking the whip in this New Ireland. Zeig Heil.

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vincentruane | Jan 24, 2011, 10:45 PM EST
I think it is Brian Cowens sell out to the IMF and the banks that is really angering the Irish people.Hopefully this sad event in Ireland's tragic and noble history will ring an alarm bell in Ireland's polticians and journalists ears and minds to stop being fooled so easily by foreign press releases and whispers in their ears at parties. In relation to Charlie Haughey, I think he would have ran the IMF. The men who fought in 1916 and fought in Irelands war of independence plus all the people who have voted for the Fianna Fail party have been completely betrayed here.

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sirpeter | Jan 24, 2011, 09:38 PM EST
Ajreaper..Go fu*k yourself..I have read enough of your posts,they are shallow and your knowledge is limited ."Start naming them"..Typical childish request..If I said to you 1500 people drowned on the Titanic and you didn't believe me..YOU WOULD SAY..NAME THEM..You are just another Pr*ck on this forum.

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Ajreaper | Jan 24, 2011, 08:05 PM EST
LOL, Sirpeter tell you what you said " I could name 100 puppet governments around the world that were installed by the United States alone" Start namimg them. It is claimed by some but certainly not a proven fact that the CIA worked to put the Baath party in power not Saddam, who at the time was a 20 something year old member of the Baath party- so to say the CIA put Saddam in power is not correct at all, the CIA, it is suggested, worked to bring the Baath party to power- 2 hugely different things altogether. Keep spouting off however because your making it very clear who the dumb **** is ;)

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sirpeter | Jan 24, 2011, 06:49 PM EST
Niall O'Dowd..You really know how to stir the sh*t..You know as well as i do that FF would love to pin the blame on Brian Cowen for everything coming up to this election. If the media are saying that. Then it just goes to show why they vote in these politicians in the first place..Because the media are a bunch of liars..and Niall you know it. Where do the people get their information from about politicians? ..Yeah that's right the media.

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sirpeter | Jan 24, 2011, 06:33 PM EST
We all know there is a certain amount of corruption in governments..But to blame the Irish people because they didn't see what was happening behind closed doors...Ye all must be thick. The Irish people are all guilty!! Don't be so stupid.

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