Do you feel a bit sorry for Brian Cowen!?

deleriumtremens

The thing is Bertie just slipped out in time and left Brian Cowen to walk into this mess!! Also, anytime he or his government try to help the situation in any way, the whole country goes..."its a disgrace what they're doing" and start protesting!!! I mean just look at the poor chap!

http://www.jazzbiscuit.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/brian_cowen_fat_boy_slim.jpg

brianthebard

Cowen was minister for finance, he's as responsible or moreso for the mess he has to deal with/run away from. I knew he was the wrong man for the job when all the rte people were blathering on about his previous posts and how he'd never moved out of third gear-not cause he didn't need to, cause he doesn't have a higher one!

deleriumtremens

brianthebard wrote: »

Cowen was minister for finance, he's as responsible or moreso for the mess he has to deal with/run away from. I knew he was the wrong man for the job when all the rte people were blathering on about his previous posts and how he'd never moved out of third gear-not cause he didn't need to, cause he doesn't have a higher one!

Yeah actually, I supose since he contributed in such a great way to the current situation that its only natural that he should get all the stick for it!!!!!

partyatmygaff

let me post what is probably about to be posted about 10000 times


blah blah blah economy biffo blah blah blah retard blah blah blah sack him blah blah blah outrage blah blah blah recession

sdanseo

There's been enough of these. Take it to TCN or somewhere else irrelevant :P

Quality

Yes I do feel sorry for him....

He was last in the queue when God was giving out the good looks..:cool:

Wacko

Of course I don't feel sorry for him ! Although someone should give that George Lee a slap around the chops, he has had nothing but boring good news for the past ten years, and he is now going to town on all this negativity, every piece of "we're all going to die" news he gets out of himself, results in him looking like he is having an orgasm. I have never seen such a smug smile of satisfaction at the end of his interview on the news today.

deleriumtremens

Wacko wrote: »

Of course I don't feel sorry for him ! Although someone should give that George Lee a slap around the chops, he has had nothing but boring good news for the past ten years, and he is now going to town on all this negativity, every piece of "we're all going to die" news he gets out of himself, results in him looking like he is having an orgasm. I have never seen such a smug smile of satisfaction at the end of his interview on the news today.

Yeah. In fairness, he's having a field day!!!

phenomenon

Brian Cowen is actually a fish. Some say he has gills under those layers of flab. No human has lips like that.

Biffo

Daysha

brianthebard wrote: »

Cowen was minister for finance, he's as responsible or moreso for the mess he has to deal with/run away from. I knew he was the wrong man for the job when all the rte people were blathering on about his previous posts and how he'd never moved out of third gear-not cause he didn't need to, cause he doesn't have a higher one!

Nope. It's more Charlie McCreeveys fault than it is Brian Cowens

Duiske

Seen poor ol' Brian laying on the road at St. Stephens green a few years back, after being knocked ass over tit by a motorbike courier. Felt sorry for him then.
Now ?. Not on your life. If he can't stand the heat, he should not have his 2 hands in the birds bush, or whatever that saying was.

carlybabe1

brianthebard wrote: »

Cowen was minister for finance, he's as responsible or moreso for the mess he has to deal with/run away from. I knew he was the wrong man for the job when all the rte people were blathering on about his previous posts and how he'd never moved out of third gear-not cause he didn't need to, cause he doesn't have a higher one!

++++1
I couldn't have phrased it better. When I heard that they were giving bertie the boot I thought
(1) did we not just have an election and he was voted back in????
(2) it wont be six months before he has the country on its knees
Also one has to bear in mind that they are still being paid the massive salaries they were alloted when bertie was in, and I bet thier favourite resteraunts wont feel the squeeze quite as much.
The waistline of his chin certainly hasn't shrunk at all

cregser

I see pictures of Bertie Ahern in a wheel chair with a huge cast over his leg (after he had a little tumble down the stairs how many months ago?) and do feel sorry for Cowen getting stick while Bertie milks the sympathy vote. I also see pictures of Mary Coughlan at the opening of every coffee shop (5 NEW Jobs!!!) and wonder who he's got supporting him.

But then I think there's a reason he's landed in this mess, because he's loyal Fianna Fáil though and through and they're the ones who brought us here. So **** him!

Why would I feel sorry for a politician?

javaboy

cregser wrote: »

I see pictures of Bertie Ahern in a wheel chair with a huge cast over his leg (after he had a little tumble down the stairs how many months ago?) and do feel sorry for Cowen getting stick while Bertie milks the sympathy vote.

Bertie broke his leg on October 21st. What dates were the photos you saw of him in a wheelchair taken and was he attending hospital at the time?

Wertz

I felt sorrier for Saddam Hussein when they hanged him than I ever would for anyone in the current cabinet. They've finally got a tough job to do (that they seemingly haven't got a ball's notion how to do) after riding the good times for the last decade...
Cowen get's paid more than the US president; I'd like to see some return on that wage, or else see someone else get the reigns, but why would I feel sorry for someone if they can't do their job?

jokjetset

No, not in the slightest. Cowen is the worst Taoiseach overseeing the worst Government in the history of the Irish State.

Incompetent or just the unluckiest man ever, I don't know and frankly don't care. Cowen is clearly not up to the job and should have the grace to go before he destroys everything that so many of us have worked so hard over so many years for !!!!

javaboy

jokjetset wrote: »

No, not in the slightest. Cowen is the worst Taoiseach overseeing the worst Government in the history of the Irish State.

Incompetent or just the unluckiest man ever, I don't know and frankly don't care. Cowen is clearly not up to the job and should have the grace to go before he destroys everything that so many of us have worked so hard over so many years for !!!!

You contradicted yourself a little bit there

seadog9

It is a bit harsh on poor Brian, all things considered.

greatdeeds

cregser wrote: »

I see pictures of Bertie Ahern in a wheel chair with a huge cast over his leg (after he had a little tumble down the stairs how many months ago?) and do feel sorry for Cowen getting stick while Bertie milks the sympathy vote. I also see pictures of Mary Coughlan at the opening of every coffee shop (5 NEW Jobs!!!) and wonder who he's got supporting him.

But then I think there's a reason he's landed in this mess, because he's loyal Fianna Fáil though and through and they're the ones who brought us here. So **** him!

A significant investment in foundation and blusher, and an ability to on/off the water works during interviews with RTEs Brian Dobson should see him right.

Worked a treat for destitute Bert

ejmaztec

I bet Dev's happy knowing that Biffo's worse than he was.

old boy

i saw him on tv telling everyone what a great job he had done with the economy, thro prudent and careful management.
nobody put a gun to his head to take the job, i am hazzarding a geuss that if a gun was put to his head he to leave he would still stay.

brianthebard

deise59 wrote: »

Nope. It's more Charlie McCreeveys fault than it is Brian Cowens

How do you mean "nope"? He had a chance to change the policies of McCreevy. Jesus with an attitude like that we should probably be blaming the Cumann na nGaedheal government, sure they started it all! In short to medium terms Cowan is directly responsible for the present situation. Happy now?

dr.bollocko

I dont think any government has the power to preside over some magical recession umbrella that will block out the worldwide problem. I do think that they have the power to protect jobs and continue to spend on healthcare infrastructure and education.

Jesus Wept

I'd ride him sideways.

AlmightyCushion

With lips like that how could you not.

Jesus Wept

With lips like that, I'd ride you riding him.

Tipsy Mac

Not even Barrack Obama can save this country, it's completely fcuked.

Brian Cowen has a bigger salary than the US President, he will get a massive pension and basically has no personal financial worries for life guaranteed, no I don't feel sorry for him in the slightest :mad:

Peared

javaboy wrote: »

Bertie broke his leg on October 21st. What dates were the photos you saw of him in a wheelchair taken and was he attending hospital at the time?

Bertie was in a wheelchair two weeks ago at a public event if that helps.

javaboy

Peared wrote: »

Bertie was in a wheelchair two weeks ago at a public event if that helps.

Thanks Peared.
Ok so he broke his leg on the 21st of October. When I broke my leg I was in plaster for 6 weeks but admittedly the only time I used a wheelchair was in the hospital when they insisted on it. But he's got 35 years on me so the recovery wouldn't go nearly as quickly I imagine.

It's not exactly outrageous that he should be in a wheelchair 6 weeks after his break in fairness. I know I hated walking on the crutches for extended periods of time so at a public event, I can understand why Bertie might use a chair. It can be more dignified than getting all red in the face and sweaty and tired from going around on crutches.

P.S. I hate Bertie with a passion.

markesmith

It's not Cowen's fault that the job pays well. Not sure who started that trend - possssssssssibly a certain Charles H., but I really don't know.

Anyway, my original point. Ireland is a small, open economy. There is little that the government can do about the macroeconomic forces swirling around us at the moment. Look at the UK, US, Iceland...it does appear to be hitting everyone.

Indirectly, it might have been Cowen's / Ahern's / Fianna Fail's fault for fostering this attitude that now the bad times are gone, it's gonna be rosy forever.

You can blame the banks, the media, the economist, the government, the people who thought a €400k mortgage would be manageable, the mismanagement of state bodies...

But at the end of it any Taoiseach is a man on a surfboard. He could be surfing a tidal wave (late 90s - 2006) or the low tide (right now). Putting a different man on the surfboard won't make more waves. And blaming the lad on the surfboard is just begrudgery.

I'm done with ya!

Jesus Wept

Tipsy Mac wrote: »

no I don't feel sorry for him in the slightest :mad:

That's beside the point, would you give him length?

ejmaztec

old boy wrote: »

i saw him on tv telling everyone what a great job he had done with the economy, thro prudent and careful management.
nobody put a gun to his head to take the job, i am hazzarding a geuss that if a gun was put to his head he to leave he would still stay.

There's more chance of the trigger being pulled regardless. Another boom he couldn't handle.

wylo

...wrong thread

DublinWriter

Anyone, who upon getting a promotion in work, that duly heads down to Offaly, jumps on the back of a lorry and starts singing come-all-yes, deserves the kicking* they will invariably receive.

(*Metaphorical kicking, violence is bad m'kay?)

RoundyMooney

deleriumtremens wrote: »

The thing is Bertie just slipped out in time and left Brian Cowen to walk into this mess!!

If he had half a brain (instead of a half head on his shoulders), he'd have had the presence of mind to see the writing on the wall. He didn't, or got greedy, or a little bit of both.

What makes me die, is the amount of fawning he got when he took the job, for being an intellectual powerhouse.

He's sitting in his daddies seat, like so many others, with the same provincial concerns and narrow minded outlook, same as most of the other political figures in this great little country. How many heads of state would you see up on the back of an artic trailer attempting to sing to the rednecks?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yp3SmUrJQM

Darragh29

The problem with this country, and this is Cowen's key problem, is that we have too many people in this country that have a notion in their head that they have actual leadership ability. Just take a look at your job. I bet you'll immediately be able to identify people in management who know nothing about management, know nothing about leadership, motiving and inspiring people, and just got the job because they "knew someone" or are related to the owner of the business or something along these lines.

The same is true for Cowen, here is a man who has no leadership or communcation ability whatsoever, although he clearly believes differently, he hasn't the first notion how to get the country behind him and inspire people to work together to sort out this economic calamity. Instead he is stratching his hole and picking his nose while repeating the following mantra: "I believe in partnership and this problem is caused by global events that are out of our hands"...

He reminds me of Steve Staunton in his last few days as gaffer of the Irish squad. The first thing Cowen needs to do is sit down, stop talking pure horse sh*te and listen to people. Then he needs to accept what they are saying to him. His lack of humility and ability to take an input from any quarter is nothing less than remarkable. He appears to believe he is infallible, which is usually the first catastrophic downfall of any leader.

I wouldn't put him down in the zoo with a bucket of fish to feed the penguins, for fear he would make a b*lls of it, that's now little faith I have in him now...

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

No matter how much of a mess the country is in, he will have all of lifes little luxeries, he still has his big car, big house, big pay check, big belly... It's human to feel sorry for someone getting so much crap from everyone. I do a bit. Not everything is to blame on biffo, you can thank the top managers in our banks for that mess. Greedy bastards trying to get as much share of the market as possible, reckless lending and all that.

Darragh29

Jose Flaky Script wrote: »

No matter how much of a mess the country is in, he will have all of lifes little luxeries, he still has his big car, big house, big pay check, big belly... It's human to feel sorry for someone getting so much crap from everyone. I do a bit. Not everything is to blame on biffo, you can thank the top managers in our banks for that mess. Greedy bastards trying to get as much share of the market as possible, reckless lending and all that.

The buck stops with him. This is the guy who was telling us that the fundamentals of the economy were absolutely sound when the penguins down in the zoo knew that this was simply not possible, with house prices rocketting and 35% of new employment being in low pay jobs that are outside the tax net and contributing nothing to the economy. Instead of taking action to protect the citizenship of this country who needed a house or moving to protect the economy, he protected the wealthiest people in the country, developers and big business people. He should be put in a pillory on O' Connell Street so we can throw cabages at him.

Kazaap

Almost every country in the world is going through a very bad economic period at the moment. Whats happening at the moment isnt in any way Brian Cowens or Fianna Fails fault. And yes he was in charge of the economy before he became taoisheach. Best economic period Ireland has every enjoyed I believe? But i wouldnt give him full credit for that either, the main reason for that has been the benefits we enjoyed being a relatively poor country who joined the EU. I think whoever was in power during that time would have ended up doing fairly well.

I dont have a great love for the guy personaly, but I do think he seems alot more competent than all the other oppostion party leaders. Before hebacked down from budget cuts in the face of a few people moaning, I wouldnt have had anything bad to say about him.

Hes a bit of an ugly bastard alright, but i see that as a positive. It takes the pressure off the rest of us, and sets a great example to to all ugly children in the country: Even if you look like a troll, you can still make it to the highest office in the land.

PurpleFistMixer

I hate the government an exceeding amount, but I still feel sorry for them now and again. Nobody is a purely evil person, I'd like to belive that Brian Cowen is trying in some way to do something of a good job, so I feel a bit sorry for him when the criticism is flying all over the place and is landing on him, when it's not necessarily all his fault. Of course it's easier to just blame the taoiseach than actually find the sources of problems and blame them/fix them.

Darragh29

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

I hate the government an exceeding amount, but I still feel sorry for them now and again. Nobody is a purely evil person, I'd like to belive that Brian Cowen is trying in some way to do something of a good job, so I feel a bit sorry for him when the criticism is flying all over the place and is landing on him, when it's not necessarily all his fault. Of course it's easier to just blame the taoiseach than actually find the sources of problems and blame them/fix them.

Hang on, this is the guy who is getting paid more than any other leader of a government in the western world! He is being paid hansomly to resolve these issues, that's his job! Not alone is he ineffective in his own job, he has surrounded himself with a top table at the cabinet of people who cannot do their jobs. A Minister for Finance who doesn't have a utter clue what the end of month revenue figures are. He doesn't even seem to have current finance data to hand, never mind a strategy to work on the data and improve the figures!

Darragh29

Kazaap wrote: »

Almost every country in the world is going through a very bad economic period at the moment. Whats happening at the moment isnt in any way Brian Cowens or Fianna Fails fault. And yes he was in charge of the economy before he became taoisheach. Best economic period Ireland has every enjoyed I believe? But i wouldnt give him full credit for that either, the main reason for that has been the benefits we enjoyed being a relatively poor country who joined the EU. I think whoever was in power during that time would have ended up doing fairly well.

I dont have a great love for the guy personaly, but I do think he seems alot more competent than all the other oppostion party leaders. Before hebacked down from budget cuts in the face of a few people moaning, I wouldnt have had anything bad to say about him.

Hes a bit of an ugly bastard alright, but i see that as a positive. It takes the pressure off the rest of us, and sets a great example to to all ugly children in the country: Even if you look like a troll, you can still make it to the highest office in the land.

Yeah yeah yeah, we're great at that in Ireland, pointing to everything around us that moves, as the cause of our woes and waiting for someone else to come along and fix the problem and give us a free ride into town, where we then tell anyone who will listen to us that weren't we great, look what we have managed to do for ourselves, sure we didn't need any help at all, we've the fastest growing economy in the world, blah blah blah!

This just doesn't cut it any more. We have to pick ourselves up from this and for once in our history, sort out our own mess and not stand around waiting for EU funds or American FDI to appear for another factory.

We have the ideas, we have the education and the talent to build jobs in new industries and find new export markets. We don't need foreign companies to come here and do it for us. What we don't have is the leadership or the collective vision to thread all our abilities together to produce a result and for as long as we have the likes of Mary Coughlan running Enterprise and a Taoiseach who still believes that all this is out of our hands, we are going absolutely nowhere...

Kashkai

The Irish people can make a success of anything they try, with the sole exception of electing sensible, decent, hard working politicians. It really depresses me when I see the shower in the Dail who have our fate in their hands. Ok so we accept that Biffo and co are probably the worst goverment we've had in years, if not since the foundation of the State. But look at the opposition, would you feel comfortable with that half wit, pompous eejit Inda Kinny as Taoiseach. He's just another gombeen parochial politician from the ar$ehole of Mayo who spouts rehearsed soundbites that he heard on Letterman or the Tonight show. With him as leader of the opposition, the FFers must be quaking in their boots :rolleyes:

Time for a national revolution to install a government of the people with the ability to save our a$$es perhaps instead of the present one who will cut medical cards, cancer vaccines, etc but put up 10 billion of our savings to prop up the banks

SEPT 23 1989

Time for a national revolution to install a government of the people with the ability to save our a$$es perhaps instead of the present one who will cut medical cards, cancer vaccines, etc but put up 10 billion of our savings to prop up the banks[/QUOTE]

i dont this is too far off by this time next year thie good people of this Republic will have had enough it will only take one spark and the country will go up

Kashkai

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Time for a national revolution to install a government of the people with the ability to save our a$$es perhaps instead of the present one who will cut medical cards, cancer vaccines, etc but put up 10 billion of our savings to prop up the banks

i dont this is too far off by this time next year thie good people of this Republic will have had enough it will only take one spark and the country will go up[/QUOTE]

Wishful thinking my friend as we Irish are far too apathetic to stage a revolution - just look at 1916 when most people couldn't be arsed. If a revolution happened now, just you and I would storm teh GPO and all we'd hear from teh masses is that we delayed their DART/LUAS and they couldn't get their double mocha skinny latte as the coffee shop was afraid to open when news of our revolution spread.

Upon our eventual capture, we won't be so lucky as to get a firing squad, no Cowan will sit on us and sing us a song................its against the Geneva convention I tell ya

Darragh29

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

Wishful thinking my friend as we Irish are far too apathetic to stage a revolution - just look at 1916 when most people couldn't be arsed. If a revolution happened now, just you and I would storm teh GPO and all we'd hear from teh masses is that we delayed their DART/LUAS and they couldn't get their double mocha skinny latte as the coffee shop was afraid to open when news of our revolution spread.

I don't agree, I can see some trigger event coming out of nowhere within the next 6 months and the place errupting. It will be something like a child out playing on the street being shot dead or run down by a gang in the middle of some criminal activity or a number of elderly people dying on hospital trollies in one night due to cutbacks, something is going to happen imminently with the way the country is currently being run, that will act as a trigger and I can see people just deciding that they have had enough and going completely beserk.

There is no doubt there is a depth of anger against this government out there that I think is ready to let fly, it will just take one event to set it off...

Kashkai

Darragh29 wrote: »

I don't agree, I can see some trigger event coming out of nowhere within the next 6 months and the place errupting. It will be something like a child out playing on the street being shot dead or run down by a gang in the middle of some criminal activity or a number of elderly people dying on hospital trollies in one night due to cutbacks, something is going to happen imminently with the way the country is currently being run, that will act as a trigger and I can see people just deciding that they have had enough and going completely beserk.

There is no doubt there is a depth of anger against this government out there that I think is ready to let fly, it will just take one event to set it off...

Er Darragh,

I think all of that has happened already and people express their shock/outrage etc and then move back into their little lives. Lets be honest here, we are the peasants who must do the bidding our our betters in the political elite. Oh sure, they come down to us great unwashed every 5 years to look for our votes but then they completely ignore us until the next vote. Wait, I'll qualify that, they also look for our votes on EU treaties and then ignore the answer they get and tell us to vote the right way next time.

All the political parties are the fcuking same. Its all one big game to them. They don't give a sh1te about us so don't ever kid your self. Its time they all went away and we tried someone new.

Nolanger

I feel sorry for him because most of the really smart guys in his class at school probably emigrated so he does well for himself but is out of his depth.

midlandsmissus

I like Brian! You can't beat a big jowley man! Seriously anytime I see him talking the sway of his jowls kinda hypnotises me....look at them swing

biko

phenomenon wrote: »

Brian Cowen is actually a fish. Some say he has gills under those layers of flab. No human has lips like that.

Biffo

Brian in a gimp suit