# Cowen interview on Morning Irleand



## Shawady (14 Sep 2010)

Did anyone hear this interview this morning? 
I missed it, but they discussed it on the Pat Kenny show and apparantly he sounded 'under the weather' and was late for the interview. The implication was he was hungover. PK said they are receiving loads of texts about it. I was just wondering was it as bad as they are making out?


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## Graham_07 (14 Sep 2010)

Maybe BC is adopting the Yeltsin style of interview.


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## Shawady (14 Sep 2010)

Must have been bad if he has had to come out and deny it.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0914/fiannafail.html


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## DoctorEvil (14 Sep 2010)

Yeah - I heard it and he was fairly shook sounding alright. Remarked upon it at the time, especially when he nearly called the Croke Park agreement the Good Friday agreement.


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## fizzelina (14 Sep 2010)

There must be some late nights at the FF think on that's going on....


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## Purple (14 Sep 2010)

Maybe the sore head is from all the thinking he’s doing. Let’s face it, he’s done bugger all for the last 10 years.


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## Protocol (14 Sep 2010)

I'd need a few drinks if I was in charge at the moment!!


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## Armada (14 Sep 2010)

Think this is a link to hear it!

[broken link removed]


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## fobs (14 Sep 2010)

Sounded pretty bad alright. He speech was more slurred than uaual and seemd very beligerant. He called the Croke Park Agreement the Good Friday agreement. Seemingly he was late for the interview (wasn't broadcast until 9:40 onwards) and hadn't had his breakfast. Not sure he will inspire the markets with his performance!


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## Shawady (14 Sep 2010)

fobs said:


> Not sure he will inspire the markets with his performance!


 
Don't think this government is capable of inspiring anyone.
Minister for social protection hadn't got a clue about the 'work for dole' scheme on prime time last week.
And the Science minister was planning to launch book denouncing evolution until he was forced to pull out.


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## Towger (14 Sep 2010)

Sounds more like a bad mike and compression artefacts than being drunk to me.


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## The_Banker (14 Sep 2010)

Towger said:


> Sounds more like a bad mike and compression artefacts than being drunk to me.


 
Possibly, but the fact that the Taoiseach of the country has to deny he was drunk says it all.  "If your denying, your losing!"


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## TarfHead (14 Sep 2010)

According to RTE at lunchtime, An Taoiseach was holding court in the bar until after 3am. David Davin Power could not say if he had being boozing 'til then.

That could explain the hoarseness. If so, it was bad judgement to take the interview on Morning Ireland.

I've no issue with an adult having a few pints on a weekend away. I am more exercised about the BS answer he gave, or rather didn't give, about public sector reform.


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## DB74 (14 Sep 2010)

TarfHead said:


> I am more exercised about the BS answer he gave, or rather didn't give, about public sector reform.


 
Ah sure that could've been the drink talking!


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## Brendan Burgess (14 Sep 2010)

It's fairly slurred ok. He didn't sound well, as if he had the start of a cold. I would guess he is on medication. 

I wouldn't worry about his being late. This often happens. 

If he was drunk or hungover, his handlers would presumably have stopped him going on. 

Brendan


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## thedaras (14 Sep 2010)

That will teach them to ban solpadine.


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## cork (14 Sep 2010)

He had a late night.

Wow!

Is this now Public Sector Broadcasting in Ireland.

We are borrowing billions - Is this the best RTE and the po faced can come up with?


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## Graham_07 (14 Sep 2010)

fobs said:


> seemd very beligerant.



Nothing new there.


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## csirl (14 Sep 2010)

Maybe he was "tired and emotional"


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## cork (14 Sep 2010)

The story is a red herring.

It would be better to focus in on potential cuts in public services or raises in tax.


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## Betsy Og (14 Sep 2010)

anything that confirms a stereotype is back to "get traction"  ..... (puke!)

Its not the being/sounding drunk thats such an issue its more that the collective wisdom and intelligence of the team didnt spot it and not allow it to happen. It gives a definite air of shambles to the way he is being presented of late.


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## michaelm (14 Sep 2010)

cork said:


> The story is a red herring.
> 
> It would be better to focus in on potential cuts in public services or raises in tax.


Yes, a non-story.  Asleep at the wheel or drunk at the wheel, what odds.


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## Welfarite (14 Sep 2010)

He didn't sound drunk to me. My best description is 'tired and unemotional', from answering the same quesions over and over. Cathal MacCongaile's questions were not exacting inspirational or new, or likely to get a rousing response from a man who ahd little sleep adn no breakfast. A red herring, as cork posted....


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## oldtimer (14 Sep 2010)

Totally agree, much ado about nothing - move on


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## ajapale (14 Sep 2010)

I heard the some of the interview this morning and genuinely thought that he sounded better than he normally does! I remember thinking that perhaps he had engaged a voice coach! He didnt have that plaintive whine that Oliver Callan so cleverly mimics.


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## di74 (14 Sep 2010)

thedaras said:


> that will teach them to ban solpadine.


 
+1


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## haminka1 (14 Sep 2010)

a proof that the lecture on codeine we are getting in pharmacies is justified. 
honestly, if this is the only thing that opposition can come up with it, then FF is going to win next election 100%, this is an issue for tabloids not for FG.


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## Leper (14 Sep 2010)

I think 'Cork' is right.  This is another smoke screen to get peoples' thinking away from the real truth about Ireland's economy.


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## lou2 (14 Sep 2010)

Ridiculous story. Coveney sounded so pious on the news talking about his tweet. Pathetic if you ask me (and I'm no Fianna Fail fan!). There's plenty of real issues to challenge the government with.


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## carpedeum (14 Sep 2010)

To me he sounded exhausted. I blame his handlers for allowing him to go on radio. I am anti-Fianna Fáil,but, I am sick and tired of Fine Gael picking stupid arguments when they should be showing alternative leadership and offering solutions. Gilmore and Rabbitt are at least targetting te issues and political policy failings of the Government. I have just watched Prime Time devoting 20+ mins to this ridiculous story. 

In my opinion, Cowen has every right to have a wild night every so often. Fianna Fáil's big mistake was going to the expense of hosting this laughable think-in in the Ardilaun. Is this at tacpayers' expense? There are many cheaper locations near or in the Dáil.

I heard a journalist saying that drinks were not on the house, BUT, ministers were buying journalists drinks! I hope the ministers are not claiming these on expenses.

Simon Coveney and Enda, give us some leadership and solutions or else watch out the imminent election.


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## Sunny (14 Sep 2010)

I don't care if he was hungover or not. The issue is that he simply should not have done the interview. Very very poor judgement. And not for the first time.


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## RMCF (14 Sep 2010)

Cowen made the wrong decision to do the interview, but I hear his media advisors weren't around.

As for Coveney, well I am shocked too by his petty, political point scoring. And what is it with all this Twitter nonsense? What age are our politicians? Time they started acting like real people and not iPhone wielding, teenage idiots. Get a life, saddo's.


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## redbhoy (15 Sep 2010)

Does anyone ever think that when silly stories like this come out in the media that its done so the newscasters can glaze over more important issues or ignore them altogether so that the populace stay uniformed? I havent heard much about the change in tax relief on pensions being lowered from 41% to 33%.
Sure dont mind that, start thinking about whether or not you care that the countries Premier was drunk or had a hangover. Heres Evelyn with the weather.....


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## PaddyW (15 Sep 2010)

Ridiculous story. Next..


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## demoivre (15 Sep 2010)

RMCF said:


> Cowen made the wrong decision to do the interview, but I hear his media advisors weren't around.
> 
> As for Coveney, well I am shocked too by his petty, political point scoring.



I'm not - I'd say Fianna Fail are delighted with Coveney and Kenny. Sure, other than the Shinners on Economics, you couldn't hand pick much weaker opponents, and this rubbish story is more evidence of it !


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## Teatime (15 Sep 2010)

oldtimer said:


> Totally agree, much ado about nothing - move on


 
Yeah I feel sorry for the guy now and dismayed at the nation we have become.


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## ney001 (15 Sep 2010)

Teatime said:


> Yeah I feel sorry for the guy now and dismayed at the nation we have become.



+ 1
We know the country is in a mess but for gods sake hopping on every little thing is just getting ridiculous, jaysus is there anything we don't whinge about nowadays?? .  

Coveney has shown himself to be a petty bitchy person and rightly so!


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## Firefly (15 Sep 2010)

thedaras said:


> That will teach them to ban solpadine.


 
Post of the week for me


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## Duke of Marmalade (15 Sep 2010)

redbhoy said:


> I havent heard much about the change in tax relief on pensions being lowered from 41% to 33%.


I have heard nothing of this. Is this a leg pull?


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## z104 (15 Sep 2010)

This really showed up the immaturity of Coveney in my opinion. It was really pathetic.


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## Sunny (15 Sep 2010)

Coveneys biggest problem was using twitter. As someone else mentioned, politicians need to grow up. Same with Dan Boyle. 

Having said that, I was in London yesterday meeting people from a large financial institution and they were telling me about it. I only heard it when I got home last night. It was really unprofessional. I have no problem with people staying up till 3am and having a few drinks but I wouldn't do it if I knew I was presenting something or meeting someone the next morning and I am not leader of this Country. The interview was planned. Cowan knew he had to do it. He is not 18 anymore. He should be able to tell the boys that he has to take it easy because he has an early appointment talking to half a million people.


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## RMCF (15 Sep 2010)

Blown out of all proportion. Cowen still gave decent answers (by politician standards) to what he was asked. It wasn't as if he slurred his way through the interview, like many would have you believe.

Must have been a slow news day.

Anyone remember all the shenanigans Berlusconi has got up to over the last decade? Cowen is like an altar boy compared to him.


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## Mpsox (15 Sep 2010)

Whilst I wouldn't begrudge Cowan or anyone else a drink and a bit of craic, the reality is that life is often about perception. The international perception of Ireland as a nation is that our finances are in meltdown due to our inability to deal with the banking crisis and hence interest rates for Irish Govt borrowing is rising as we're deemed to be in danger of being the next Greece. On top of that, there is now potentially the perception that whilst all of that is going on, our leader is a drunk. It doesn't matter whether it's true or not, it's what it is perceived to be.

Coveney was right to highlight the poor quality of Cowans' performance, not just yesterday, but in most speeches and interviews. Frannkly, sober, hungover or drunk, Cowan is poor at getting things across. Coveney was wrong to allege Cowan was drunk or hungover without having full facts. 

I'm just waiting now for St Enda to come out and say he'll take the pledge for when he is elected Taoiseach. !!


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## Sunny (15 Sep 2010)

RMCF said:


> Blown out of all proportion. Cowen still gave decent answers (by politician standards) to what he was asked. It wasn't as if he slurred his way through the interview, like many would have you believe.
> 
> Must have been a slow news day.
> 
> Anyone remember all the shenanigans Berlusconi has got up to over the last decade? Cowen is like an altar boy compared to him.


 
I agree he didn't sound drunk but he did sound like he was after a big night out. Nothing wrong with that. We have all been there. Difference is how many of us stay in the bar singing and drinking till 3.30-4am knowing we had a radio interview at 8.30am?


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## Complainer (15 Sep 2010)

If he was drinking until 3.30 am, then he WAS still drunk at 8.30 am.


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## PaddyW (15 Sep 2010)

You can't say for definite that he WAS drunk. You don't know how many pints he had, or were you there beside him at the bar??


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## Ceist Beag (15 Sep 2010)

PaddyW said:


> You can't say for definite that he WAS drunk. You don't know how many pints he had, or were you there beside him at the bar??



As MpSox has said tho Paddy, whether he was or not is irrelevant, it's all about perception and the story is out now and the damage done. Blaming Coveney is just FF trying to dodge the issue as it wasn't he who published the story in hundreds of articles worldwide, there were many more than he listening in to the interview. 
I think it's a bit of a non story personally but once again it points to Cowen being completely clueless when it comes to judgement.


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## Betsy Og (15 Sep 2010)

While Coveney should have shut up and let the journos run the story, that was more a lack of cuteness rather than any campaign to hang Cowan out to dry - he was doing a quite brilliant job of that himself.

Agree though that its damaging to the country to have it put up in lights, the first 4 pages of the Indo (metro) jammed with it. Cowan seems to now be a magnet for negativity and I'm starting to form the view that it would benefit the country if he stepped down as Taoiseach (before the inevitable loss of power anyway in the election).

Politics being as it is it'll probably take the election for him to step aside.

Time for the press to stop wallowing in misery and calamity, are they on a mission to make sure we never recover economically???


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## pixiebean22 (15 Sep 2010)

Mpsox said:


> I'm just waiting now for St Enda to come out and say he'll take the pledge for when he is elected Taoiseach. !!


 

 haha

I agree that this story is overshadowing the bigger issues and taking the spotlight away from the real problems in our country.  I also agree that he should be allowed a drink and a night off and time to relax etc.  But I think that if you know you're getting up the next morning for a radio interview to talk about the state of the nation you would have a bit more sense about you, you know thousands of people will be listening and you're likely to get a grilling, you want to have your wits about you and your mind working at it's best to cope with the questions thrown at you.

And if he was still drinking at 3.30 am then the alcohol would still be in his system at 8.30 am, any garda can tell you that and any person who has ever been breathalysed can tell you that.  

But I think enough has been said on the matter and it's now time to get back to the real issues and take this off the frontpage of newspapers all over the world.


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## RMCF (15 Sep 2010)

I think the whole sorry episode shows up that in this time of major crisis we shouldn't have our politicians having little snipes at each other the way they do in normal times.

We are on the edge and if anything need a national Gov, and all our politicians should be burying differences until we get ourselves out of this mess. 

Acting like school boys does no side any favours. Or any of us.


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## Caveat (15 Sep 2010)

Has anyone actually made any really damning claims: e.g. smell of drink, bloodshot eyes etc?

I certainly haven't heard anything like this.

Bad decision from Cowan but not a huge deal IMO.

Non-story, likely to be pounced on with glee by the English tabloids though. I shudder to think how the mail will report it.


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## TarfHead (15 Sep 2010)

Caveat said:


> Non-story, likely to be pounced on with glee by the English tabloids though. I shudder to think how the mail will report it.


 
Just back from the shops. The array of newspaper headlines is deeply embarrassing (or should be ) for the BIFFO. One photo of him holding (or Photoshopped) a pint of Carlsberg appears on 2 different papers, each using a headline along the lines of the 'Probably ..' slogan.


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## Mpsox (15 Sep 2010)

Caveat said:


> Non-story, likely to be pounced on with glee by the English tabloids though. I shudder to think how the mail will report it.


 
a bit like this

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ngover-radio-interview.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

The Tippling Taoiseach


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## Duke of Marmalade (15 Sep 2010)

I remember a letter to the  IT warning that it was only a matter of time and sure enough we now have Cowengate


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## Graham_07 (15 Sep 2010)

Duke of Marmalade said:


> I remember a letter to the  IT warning that it was only a matter of time and sure enough we now have Cowengate



Hope the real one doesn't pick up on that


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## PaddyW (15 Sep 2010)




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## PaddyW (16 Sep 2010)




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## DB74 (16 Sep 2010)

That 2nd one is very good PaddyW


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## dereko1969 (16 Sep 2010)

Just on a tangent to this, does anyone else think it was a complete waste of RTE's resources to send Cathal Mac Coille (and presumably at least 2 other people ie producer and/or sound person) to Galway the night before, pay for them to go down put them up in a hotel all for a 10 minute interview that could have been done on the phone?

They already had David Davin-Power and his crew down there as well.


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## TarfHead (16 Sep 2010)

According to a tweet I saw this morning ..

.. the only member of the Cabinet who thought that Brian Cowen's performance was worthy of an apology was .. Brian Cowen  !

It may be a while before Mary Hanafin is asked to go out again and defend the indefensible.


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## cork (16 Sep 2010)

TarfHead said:


> It may be a while before Mary Hanafin is asked to go out again and defend the indefensible.



The treatment of Cown by the media is more Indefensible.

Why is the Middle East Peace Process being ignored by RTE.

Even last night the coverage of the Controller and Auditor Generals report was poor.


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## RMCF (16 Sep 2010)

Perhaps they are beginning to go down the 'tabloid' route.

Forget about the real stories in the country/world, just concentrate on the goss.


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## liaconn (16 Sep 2010)

cork said:


> The treatment of Cown by the media is more Indefensible.
> 
> Why is the Middle East Peace Process being ignored by RTE.
> 
> Even last night the coverage of the Controller and Auditor Generals report was poor.


 

+1. Not a fan of Brian Cowen but this has been blown out of all proportion. I think it's time to let-it-go.


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## Shawady (16 Sep 2010)

The real winners have been the Labour party.
FF have been badly damaged by this and FG have not come out smelling of roses.


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## Caveat (16 Sep 2010)

To think he felt he had to apologise to the nation for this!

I can think of a million other things he should be apologising for before this.


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## Shawady (16 Sep 2010)

What did he actually apologise for?
Giving a bad interview? He is still adamant his performance had nothing to do with him drinking and singing songs until 3am.


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## DerKaiser (16 Sep 2010)

I really hope this is forgotten about quickly. Small minded hypocrites is the phrase that comes to mind.

Do we hang a man for turning up to work with a mild hangover?

I really despair at the sanctimonious drivel being spouted by the self appointed moral police.

People on hospital waiting lists, in negative equity and the dole have not ended up where they as a result of Cowan having a few pints on Monday night. We got ourselves into the situation we're in as a result of poor collective and individual economic decisions made soberly (sober of drink at least!) over a period of a number of years.

Don't scapegoat one boozy night for the woes of the country, and don't spout sanctimonious rubbish that Cowan is not entitled to a drink as if it somehow is disrespectful.


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## Complainer (16 Sep 2010)

DerKaiser said:


> Do we hang a man for turning up to work with a mild hangover?


Would you be OK with your taxi driver, or your GP, or your solicitor turning up to work for you with an obvious hangover?


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## TarfHead (16 Sep 2010)

DerKaiser said:


> Do we hang a man for turning up to work with a mild hangover?


 
If it was the ony aberration in a career of unblemished achievement - no.

But this is someone who was been in power for over 2 years and who takes the buck for many of the policy mistakes over the past 7 years and all of the policy mistakes over the last 2. I posted earlier in this thread, or in another related one, I turned off the MI interview cos once more Cowen was indulging in the bureaucratic jargon that infects most of his statements.



			
				Irish Times said:
			
		

> *CMacC:* One of the key elements of the Government’s strategy, the Croke Park Agreement, was criticised earlier in the programme by Leo Varadkar, who said that very little had been done to implement it. When are we going to see the kind of flexibility, the mobility, the big changes in the way the civil service, public service, works that that agreement promised?
> *BC:* Well what’s going to happen now of course is, what people need to know is for next year we’re beginning discussions…what we have to do is align the estimates campaign with the industrial relations agenda. And what that’ll involve is where every department is setting out a [unclear] on the amount it’ll be able to have next year. It will be dealing with its on management and its own personnel and its own staff over coming months explaining that simply we have to get more from less, we want to avoid impact on those who…it’s during the course of this estimates campaign that we’ll be ending up with the situation where the allocations that will be made will require the implementation in many respects of the Good Friday of the, ah, sorry, the Croke Park Agreement, which is about redeployment, which is about better work practices…


 
This is why he deserves the criticism he's getting.


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## DerKaiser (16 Sep 2010)

Complainer said:


> Would you be OK with your taxi driver, or your GP, or your solicitor turning up to work for you with an obvious hangover?


 
I obviously wouldn't be impressed, but I don't think I'd be right to call for them to quit their jobs (unless I suspected the Taxi driver was still well over the legal limit), particularly if I'd dealt with them hangover free several times before.  

If I was unhappy with the general service I was getting from them I'd probably be more likely to get agitated to see them hungover alright, but I definitely wouldn't be focussing on the one hungover day as being my major issue or as a basis for not using them again.

On the other hand if they generally did a good job, I'd certainly let one hungover day slide.

I think my view is that I have turned up to work hungover on occasion (not so much in the last few years) so I'm not going to be a hypocrite and turn around and say it's unacceptable for anyone else.

Presume most people have been to work hungover the odd time?


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## Sunny (16 Sep 2010)

DerKaiser said:


> I think my view is that I have turned up to work hungover on occasion (not so much in the last few years) so I'm not going to be a hypocrite and turn around and say it's unacceptable for anyone else.
> 
> Presume most people have been to work hungover the odd time?


 
Of course. Most of us have been there! But would you as a grown man do it knowing you had an important presentation or interview at 8.30am the next morning. He is not 21 years old.


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## cork (16 Sep 2010)

When did Ireland become a nation  po faced self indulgents?

The outrage in the media and by the public is comtrieved.

What do these people want?

Curfews & prohibition.


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## Sunny (16 Sep 2010)

cork said:


> When did Ireland become a nation  po faced self indulgents?
> 
> The outrage in the media and by the public is comtrieved.
> 
> ...



No, just basic professionalism. The guy gets paid over 200k a year. Nobody begrudges him a night out. All he had to do was clear his schedule the next morning. If I gave that presentation in work, I would be in serious trouble and rightly so.


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## thedaras (16 Sep 2010)

DerKaiser said:


> On the other hand if they generally did a good job, I'd certainly let one hungover day slide.



The sentence above couldn't be truer..

I hope you can see that a lot of the people who are saying it was irresponsible,(etc) of the leader of the country ,who earns 200k plus ,in the depths of a recession,who was minister for finance etc,will say they wont let this slide because,, generally he does not do a good job..

I believe it is a build up of resentment and frustration and powerlessness that people are feeling and to hear the leader of the country,not preforming as he should because he was out at party central , was possibly the last straw.

Watch that space,it appears the greens are not prepared to pull down the government,the government are not prepared to have even local elections,people will find a way to get rid of them,and therefore politicians need to be exceptionally careful of how they behave and how they are seen to behave,when the public are suffering.

To sum up,I don't think it was nessasarily the "interview",but rather a build up of outrage at our current position.


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## Sunny (17 Sep 2010)

For me, it has nothing to do with past performance. If people here are seriously suggesting that they could go into work and meet clients/public and give the impression rightly or wrongly that you were on the tear the night before and there wouldn't be consequences, then we have a serious attitude problem towards alcohol. I go out during the week. Sometimes I drink too much. However, I am always aware if I have something on the following morning and act accordingly. I am not a child. The least I would do is get someone to cover for me if I did go overboard. I certainly wouldn't represent my company sounding like he did. Having said that, he has apologised so it us time to move on.


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## Betsy Og (17 Sep 2010)

The Philip Walton thing just makes the whole episode toe curling, GUBU territory. I think a) the bit of craic Biffo has on a night out shouldnt be put under the microscope - I presume he wasnt addressing the audience on a mic, & its not like he was making racist slurs or something serious and b) Walton should get over it, he should have seen it for what it was and laughed it off.

We're going to make a martyr out of Cowen for a finish!


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## Sunny (17 Sep 2010)

Betsy Og said:


> The Philip Walton thing just makes the whole episode toe curling, GUBU territory. I think a) the bit of craic Biffo has on a night out shouldnt be put under the microscope - I presume he wasnt addressing the audience on a mic, & its not like he was making racist slurs or something serious and b) Walton should get over it, he should have seen it for what it was and laughed it off.
> 
> We're going to make a martyr out of Cowen for a finish!


 
Yeah I agree with that. It is ridiculous.


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## fobs (17 Sep 2010)

Betsy Og said:


> The Philip Walton thing just makes the whole episode toe curling, GUBU territory. I think a) the bit of craic Biffo has on a night out shouldnt be put under the microscope - I presume he wasnt addressing the audience on a mic, & its not like he was making racist slurs or something serious and b) Walton should get over it, he should have seen it for what it was and laughed it off.
> 
> We're going to make a martyr out of Cowen for a finish!


 
i agree. My Husband just said he lost allrespect for WAlton when he had to get involved. He should stay out of it and letit slide. Has gift grub done a sketch on it yet?


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## Shawady (17 Sep 2010)

fobs said:


> Has gift grub done a sketch on it yet?


 
Gift Grub will get years of material out of this!


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## Staples (17 Sep 2010)

my concern is the realisation that the Taoiseach of the country has time to work on a comedy routine.

How does it work?  You get home after a long day discussing the state ofn the economy, the banking crisis, the prospects for Nama and the sepending deficit and you say to yourself "i think I'll work on my Philip Walton impression - the voice is ok but i need to improve the script!"


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## MrMan (17 Sep 2010)

Sunny said:


> For me, it has nothing to do with past performance. If people here are seriously suggesting that they could go into work and meet clients/public and give the impression rightly or wrongly that you were on the tear the night before and there wouldn't be consequences, then we have a serious attitude problem towards alcohol. I go out during the week. Sometimes I drink too much. However, I am always aware if I have something on the following morning and act accordingly. I am not a child. The least I would do is get someone to cover for me if I did go overboard. I certainly wouldn't represent my company sounding like he did. Having said that, he has apologised so it us time to move on.



It is getting to the stage now that people who did not see the interview will have an image of him with his shirt hanging out and slurring through the whole interview. His quality of speech is never great and his vocals are usually nasally so this has all been completely blown out of proportion. Can anyone say with any certainty that he was in a bad state? I saw the interview and it didn't bother me.


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## Sunny (17 Sep 2010)

MrMan said:


> It is getting to the stage now that people who did not see the interview will have an image of him with his shirt hanging out and slurring through the whole interview. His quality of speech is never great and his vocals are usually nasally so this has all been completely blown out of proportion. Can anyone say with any certainty that he was in a bad state? I saw the interview and it didn't bother me.


 
He sounded a lot worse than usual. There is no doubt that he was feeling the effects. I am not saying he was drunk but he did sound like someone who had an heavy night. I think even FF people are beginning to admit that now. Willie O Dee said it this morning. 

How did you see a radio interview!


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## moneyhoney (17 Sep 2010)

MrMan said:


> It is getting to the stage now that people who did not see the interview will have an image of him with his shirt hanging out and slurring through the whole interview. His quality of speech is never great and his vocals are usually nasally so this has all been completely blown out of proportion. Can anyone say with any certainty that he was in a bad state? I saw the interview and it didn't bother me.



It's getting to the stage now that people who didn't even listen to the interview are claiming they saw it. And claiming that it sounded fine when they clearly didn't hear it? How can you defend something you didn't hear?

I heard it & shouted at my OH in the bathroom that the Taoiseach sounded very hungover. That was my instant reaction.


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## MrMan (17 Sep 2010)

Sunny said:


> He sounded a lot worse than usual. There is no doubt that he was feeling the effects. I am not saying he was drunk but he did sound like someone who had an heavy night. I think even FF people are beginning to admit that now. Willie O Dee said it this morning.
> 
> How did you see a radio interview!




Sorry saw a repeat of it played back, or heard it on the radio, goes to show you don't need a few drinks to sound like a fool!


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## Purple (17 Sep 2010)

People have accused Brian Cowan of being incoherent and nonsensical in the interview.

The first phrase that springs to mind is _in vino veritas_


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## Deiseblue (19 Sep 2010)

I was in Turin enjoying a late night drink at the hotel bar when I fell into conversation with an Italian doctor who told me that he read in the Herald Tribune that our Prime Minister had appeared drunk on an early morning radio show , it didn't seem to phase the doc at all as Berlusconi seems to have set the bar very high in terms of dodgy behavior.

I was quite happy to chat away about this whilst hoping that the conversation didn't turn to the topic of the conference he was attending in the hotel     - "Castration resistant prostate cancer "


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## Ethan 1 (23 Sep 2010)

cork said:


> When did Ireland become a nation  po faced self indulgents?
> 
> The outrage in the media and by the public is *contrived*.
> 
> ...



Not Contrived, Brian has form....

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2010/09/23/brian-cowen-drunk-the-12-hour-bender/

We need an election ASAP ........ These fools will destroy our country  .


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## Pope John 11 (23 Sep 2010)

The life of Brian!!!!!


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## Purple (24 Sep 2010)

Ethan 1 said:


> We need an election ASAP ........ These fools will destroy our country  .



That's the kick in the teeth though isn't it; the other guys will destroy it as well.


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## Ethan 1 (24 Sep 2010)

Purple said:


> That's the kick in the teeth though isn't it; *the other guys will destroy it as well.*



There's no evidence to support this statement .

Look, I'm not aligned to any particular party, but I have a young family and worry for their future. 

IMHO  The current Government are shackled by their culpability in decisions/policies that have contributed greatly to our current situation. They're in denial 

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/cowen-denies-country-is-in-double-dip-recession-474826.html

So their ability to take hard decisions is compromised.   

A blind man on a horse knows what needs to be done i.e. cut our cloth to suit our measure, the three main parties broadly agree on the figures, €3ish billion, serious pain for some, what's needed is a mandate for this. People need to know the truth and be able to plan accordingly.

Two more years of this and we'll have civil unrest and the IMF bailing us out, as you probably know the IMF need to be kept at bay at all costs.

E 1


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## NOAH (25 Sep 2010)

We wont get out until the IMF are called in.  The amount of waste in government expenditure is  shocking.  And will not cease regardless of who is in power.  Look for example at the money the government is paying out re NAMA!!

All a general election will do is clear out one lot and replace them with another of the same ilk.  If any politician had any integrity they would step forward and scream blue murder when actions like those of Dempsey are perpetrated. Those people see no recession only self interest.

noah


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## joe sod (25 Sep 2010)

*Thousands apply for just 440 CSO part-time posts*

why is the cso advertising for part time posts when there are thousands of public servants with no real job but cant be fired, surely those at the bottom of the public service and who would be fired in any other job should be made do all this additional work that crops up. Its not rocket science


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## Complainer (25 Sep 2010)

joe sod said:


> when there are thousands of public servants with no real job


Where on earth did you get this from?


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## Ethan 1 (25 Sep 2010)

NOAH said:


> We wont get out *until the IMF are called in*.  The amount of waste in government expenditure is  shocking.  And will not cease regardless of who is in power.  Look for example at the money the government is paying out re NAMA!!
> 
> All a general election will do is clear out one lot and replace them with another of the same ilk.  If any politician had any integrity they would step forward and scream blue murder when actions like those of Dempsey are perpetrated. Those people see no recession only self interest.
> 
> noah



What is your basis for this statement, if you have a bit of spare time, take a look at the " Life as Debt " documentary on Jamaica to see how the IMF helped their situation. 

[broken link removed]

The IMF's only interest is to ensure that a country will pay its debts, NO MATTER WHAT THE COST TO THE COUNTRY. Your statement IMHO is incredible naive and dangerous. 

E 1


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## VOR (27 Sep 2010)

Jay Leno had his say also

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRZvERI5nf8


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## Killter (3 Oct 2010)

*thanks Brian*

My brother has been in Oz ten years now. he said the Cowen interview - and the mess the eejits made of the country - is constantly on the news there. So much so he finds it embarrassing....thanks Brian, you tosser.


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