Is this the moment Cowen rises to the occasion or is he another Gorden Brown?

pburns

Cowen will now have to formulate a strategy as to how he presents this to
a.) his fellow Eurocrats and
b.) the Irish public.

Do you think this seriously dents Cowen's credibility? How should he handle this?

Personally I don't hate the guy - his straight-talking approach and fruity language is much more to my taste than Berties cute hoor double-speak. Having said that I don't think his condescending, dicatorial approach helped the 'Yes' campaign...

The honeymoon is over now, that's for sure....

Rb

His approach certainly didn't do any good for the Yes campaign and I believe it will have tainted the general publics view of FF as a whole.

I don't think it has seriously dented his reputation though, yet.

How he handles it will really be the deciding factor. I believe that if he makes us vote on it again, it will be nothing short of career suicide and come the next GE, we will be telling him to not let the door bang on his way out.

He certainly has to thread carefully and really think about how he's going to handle and present this. Countries such as France have voiced their opinion, they're quite happy to ignore us (as they are their own citizens, no surprise really), so it really depends on how Cowen views his citizens voice.

DenMan

He really does has to say lot for himself. As I have said in a previous post.
"Ireland, as a nation and European Member has campaigned for a more integrated and democratic Europe which it is the people who build a better society.

Europe as a bloc has to address many issues that the Irish people feel has not been discussed. What Nations leader advises the people to vote NO if they are unsure about the Treaty.

The co-operation and friendship between members of the European Union needs to be addressed. Ireland for one has been at the forefront of promoting these changes. Now it is time to go about implementing those policies in a fair and unified way. Not forcing them upon people in a manner in which they do not understand or comprehend the decisions being made on their behalf. One Europe, one voice. The people, all 500 million of us not a select few on an international council not elected by the public but rather their parliaments.

You should read The Lisbon Treaty and think of all of the possible scenarios that could arise as a result of it. Words can have many meanings and could also be implemented in so many different ways and interpreted differently by those who have the power to make those changes. Think before you blink or look before you leap. Very appropriate words."

is_that_so

How many times have you cut and pasted this?

kerry4sam

Cowen will certainly rise to the occasion, of that i have no doubt ...

I don't envy what is ahead of him that's for sure because either our fellow EU nations will be unhappy with the Irish or the Irish people unhappy with our fellow EU nations with whatever the outsome of this will be; either way it's in his and the governments best interests to keep everyone on-side and content but i for one have confidence in the man and his actions and that he will rise to the occasion

DenMan

is_that_so wrote: »

How many times have you cut and pasted this?

LOL. Too many I'm afraid. Just been sifting back and forth looking for something to do. Boring day today really. Take it easy.

towel401

if he tries to put this same treaty past us again he's most likely finished

i for one don't like this 'vote yes, or else bad things will happen' attitude. too bad he will probably sit at home and convince himself the people only voted no because they don't understand what they really really want, and after a few drinks with his Eurocrat buddies he will come home and re-run the referendum.

ixtlan

towel401 wrote: »

if he tries to put this same treaty past us again he's most likely finished

The question is how much needs to change before it's an acceptable "new" treaty?

Ix

FionnMatthew

towel401 wrote: »

i for one don't like this 'vote yes, or else bad things will happen' attitude.

If it's not true, it's some form of argumentum ad baculum.

If it is true, it's extortion.