Taoiseach's communication with the public: frequency?

pog it

I haven't had a tv for the past three months and only get to see odd programme on internet, or at weekend, etc.

I'm really interested in finding out if ye think Brian Cowen is communicating more often and frequently on RTE or TG4. Before Christmas he was hardly ever on a current affairs programme, only briefly on news items, etc. and was generally keeping the lowest profile possible. I even remember Miriam O' Callaghan saying to him that she'd be grateful if we would come on to Primetime programme more often.

Is this the case? Is he still hiding from the media like he was before Christmas?

yoshytoshy

Thank god he's not been on tv/radio much. He seems to deliberately confuse people ,with his ridiculous explanations on finances etc.

I think he is partly to blame for the confusion of some people ,when it comes to spelling out our problems.

Pride Fighter

He's saying nothing. Mainly cause he knows he's guilty of economic treason.

Even though I'd never vote FF I'd respect them a lot more if they were just honest and open. I hate C.J Haughey but at least he did his 'living way beyond our means' speech. Such leadership is devoid from this government.

pog it

I suppose he has nothing to say for himself, wants to give the impression he is 'beavering' away behind the scenes.

He is gone in the next election for sure. Nothing can save him, and maybe even he knows that.

But while he is getting paid to lead this country he should be speaking to us as often as possible and informing people. Of course in the real world that's the last thing he wants to do.

All we can do is wait out the next elections.

iMax

We should be having an address (not an interview - although a decent one & probing one would be welcome) by either the taoiseach or the president at least once a month, detailing what's going on & what is being done about it.

At least one of them should earn their money.

zootroid

pog it wrote: »

I suppose he has nothing to say for himself, wants to give the impression he is 'beavering' away behind the scenes.

He is gone in the next election for sure. Nothing can save him, and maybe even he knows that.

But while he is getting paid to lead this country he should be speaking to us as often as possible and informing people. Of course in the real world that's the last thing he wants to do.

All we can do is wait out the next elections.

Given the ridiculous nature of politics in this country, I very much doubt that. FF will lose seats alright, but I'm 99% certain Cowen will still be elected, he still has huge support in his constituency. His constituents will be more concerned with hanging onto a ministry than anything he has done. And he's their best chance of that.

danman

pog it wrote: »

I suppose he has nothing to say for himself, wants to give the impression he is 'beavering' away behind the scenes.

He is gone in the next election for sure. Nothing can save him, and maybe even he knows that.

But while he is getting paid to lead this country he should be speaking to us as often as possible and informing people. Of course in the real world that's the last thing he wants to do.

All we can do is wait out the next elections.

We had a leader once that loved getting himself on the tv. Remember him? Great wasn't he?

I don't care if he's on tv, the less we see of him the better, as far as I'm concerned.

To be honest, BC doesn't seem to care much for his public persona, for that, I have a little respect. He's not what could be described as a media whore.

Sierra Oscar

He has created a Twitter page . . .

Yet to tweet though!

jayo99

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzN0Js0tKZ4&feature=player_embedded

Dannyboy83

Never saw any communication, other than the Late Late show.

This country needs leadership and communication.
Brian Cowen offers neither.

yoshytoshy

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

Never saw any communication, other than the Late Late show.

This country needs leadership and communication.
Brian Cowen offers neither.

He's been on the radio a few times describing his approach to certain problems ,but the language he used was horrendous.
Even rte had a go at the words he was using ,the guy sounded like a scientoligist.

patmar

In the 70'2/80's the INFLATION rate was 20%+
The 1982/87 Coalition cured the problem with DEFLATION
The word DEFLATION was never used, the NATIONAL HANDLERS made sure of that !
The Coalition have never once bragged about how they cured INFLATION

Cowen took over as Taoiseach knowing full well a crash was on the way
From day one it was heads down for Cowen and get the necesary dirty work done
No NATIONAL HANDLERS for Brian Cowen !

Cowen is under constant attack from the MEDIA, ABFF anD OPPOSITION, the few with brains in these groups know Cowen is doing right but do not have the liathroidi to say so. Correction. four previous leaders of Fine Gael have come out in support of the Cowen Government

Cowen has been accused of treason
For the MEDIA. ABFF AND OPPOSITION two words come to mind, HYPOCRISY AND SEDITION !

Cowen is playing a blinder and in 2012 election will rise up like a lion and bite the heads off his detractors

God bless Ireland and those of us who are true patriots

Most of all, LONG LIVE FIANNA FAIL !

orourkeda

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

Never saw any communication, other than the Late Late show.

This country needs leadership and communication.
Brian Cowen offers neither.

What will he communicate that we dont now already?

All he can do is tell us how f*cked the country.

iMax

patmar wrote: »

God bless Ireland and those of us who are true patriots

Most of all, LONG LIVE FIANNA FAIL !

This is why we're screwed.

Sleepy

patmar wrote: »

In the 70'2/80's the INFLATION rate was 20%+
The 1982/87 Coalition cured the problem with DEFLATION
The word DEFLATION was never used, the NATIONAL HANDLERS made sure of that !
The Coalition have never once bragged about how they cured INFLATION

Cowen took over as Taoiseach knowing full well a crash was on the way
From day one it was heads down for Cowen and get the necesary dirty work done
No NATIONAL HANDLERS for Brian Cowen !

Cowen is under constant attack from the MEDIA, ABFF anD OPPOSITION, the few with brains in these groups know Cowen is doing right but do not have the liathroidi to say so. Correction. four previous leaders of Fine Gael have come out in support of the Cowen Government

Cowen has been accused of treason
For the MEDIA. ABFF AND OPPOSITION two words come to mind, HYPOCRISY AND SEDITION !

Cowen is playing a blinder and in 2012 election will rise up like a lion and bite the heads off his detractors

God bless Ireland and those of us who are true patriots

Most of all, LONG LIVE FIANNA FAIL !

It actually scares me that views like this are still held in Ireland. I'm honestly more comfortable with the existense of stormfront than I am with such blind party loyalty.

dunleakelleher

patmar wrote: »

Most of all, LONG LIVE FIANNA FAIL !

said like a true FINNA FAIL-ure.
country is in finical meltdown but "Most of all, LONG LIVE FIANNA FAIL"
unemployment is rife but "Most of all, LONG LIVE FIANNA FAIL"
sick people dying on waiting list but "Most of all, LONG LIVE FIANNA FAIL"
our kids are running away from this country but "Most of all, LONG LIVE FIANNA FAIL"
the peoples voices are being ignored but "Most of all, LONG LIVE FIANNA FAIL"

sounds more like a dictatorship.

Dannyboy83

orourkeda wrote: »

What will he communicate that we dont now already?

All he can do is tell us how f*cked the country.

Churchill could get it together to motivate the British public when the BEF had to evacuate the only remaining allied force from the continent, when France fell, when the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact appeared to have sealed everyone's fate, when the Blitz was destroying London and killing her citizens, when there were no tank divisions on the British mainland and it looked like they could lose the Battle of Britain and be invaded.

Everyone on the planet figured the war was already lost, but he was still able to motivate people to stick together and see it through to the end.

This is leadership.
And he was able to communicate all of this during their darkest hour.

This is the greatest crisis our country has faced but what we are in now is nothing by comparison to what they had.


There is far, far too much pessimism on this board (unsurprisingly) and far too much apathy among the general public (unsurprisingly).
The only thing people are actually united in is their shared pessimism.
The worst thing about this whole crisis is the psychological impact.
Everyone is miserable and gray.
Not a speck of optimism.
For a few years, being Irish was something people felt proud to be.
Now they are embarrassed to be Irish again

If this guy would could just grow a pair and actually try to motivate people, communicate something real instead of the 'smart economy' BS, this crisis would be a lot less severe.

How hard can it be?
A national address on the TV - like the US "State of the Union" style address. Outline what direction the country is going, outline what the current goal is, and outline what plans they have to resolve this mess.
Give people something to believe in.
Give people a reason to feel confident about something and alleviate the fear of the 'unknown' and publicly acknowledge and face up to the challenge that lies at this country's immediate to mid term future.

If a leader can't manage this much, they're not a leader, they should just do the honourable thing and get the hell out of the way.

IMO, Brian Cowen is prolonging this crisis.
Not only is he not a benefit, he is a burden to us.
Not even his own back benchers have confidence in him, so how can the public?
Every move he makes appears to be a party move, keeping loyal people close to him despite their incompetence in their relevant position.


The only time the nation ever gets a pick me up is when Brian Lenihan displays some leadership. When it was announced he had cancer, a lot of people thought he would resign and then we were done for.

Personally, reading Fine Gael's plans, NewEra and FairCare, gives me all the optimism I need, I'm just counting down the days until Cowen is disposed of.

patmar

As always the ABFF refuse to address main point of a post

The 1982/87 Coalition did a lot of dirty work to cure the awful INFLATION problem

Present government are doing lot of dirty work to cure INFLATION problem

When the ABFF take their heads out of the textbooks read by armchair economists they just might get some grasp of the real world of economics

paddyland

patmar wrote: »

The 1982/87 Coalition did a lot of dirty work to cure the awful INFLATION problem

Caused by Fianna Fáil.

patmar wrote: »

Present government are doing lot of dirty work to cure INFLATION problem

Caused by Fianna Fáil.

patmar

paddyland wrote: »

Caused by Fianna Fáil.


Caused by Fianna Fáil.

How about

Fianna Fail in government - caused by perpetual losers who could not win an election even when on a plate as in 2007

Even now I have not given up on FF winning next election when I look at the ABFF and their pathetic efforts at policies. In fact I am still having nightmares after watching Bruton and Burton on Vincent browne show last week
Last night I had another nightmare when I saw Kenny and Gilmore sitting at each end of the cabinet table

moonpurple

patmar wrote: »

How about

Fianna Fail in government - caused by perpetual losers who could not win an election even when on a plate as in 2007

Even now I have not given up on FF winning next election when I look at the ABFF and their pathetic efforts at policies. In fact I am still having nightmares after watching Bruton and Burton on Vincent browne show last week
Last night I had another nightmare when I saw Kenny and Gilmore sitting at each end of the cabinet table

all that rich food and fine living is giving you nightmares maybe? or is it jet lag or worrying if your swiss banker might scoop up your salted away funds and do a runner?
first world problems, I guess

yoshytoshy

patmar wrote: »

How about

Fianna Fail in government - caused by perpetual losers who could not win an election even when on a plate as in 2007

Even now I have not given up on FF winning next election when I look at the ABFF and their pathetic efforts at policies. In fact I am still having nightmares after watching Bruton and Burton on Vincent browne show last week
Last night I had another nightmare when I saw Kenny and Gilmore sitting at each end of the cabinet table

As far as I'm concerned ,theres an element of ego and lies to all politicians. Some are neither of these ,but in general people with ambition and are heads of government have lied in some way to get where they are.

Fianna fail are masters at telling lies and making things look differently than they actually are ,they got away with it for a long time ,but not anymore.

There is something less charismatic about the other political parties ,but in general people can see through the lies now and are happy to vote for honesty.

Thats my take on things ,I've no allegiance to any party atm.

bladespin

It's pretty shocking by any standards, he runs and hides from everything, what sort of message is that sending out? Confidence in rebuilding the country, yeah right, I'm more worried about whatever he's hiding from now?

Piping up now and then saying we voted and gave him a job to do (don't remember anyone ever voting BC as taoiseach) in bullish tones isn't helping him or us.

TBH Bertie (I know - I'm definately not saying he was any good at anything else) was so much better at presenting himself, he did give off a (false) confidence that the country seemed to draw from.

patmar

moonpurple wrote: »

all that rich food and fine living is giving you nightmares maybe? or is it jet lag or worrying if your swiss banker might scoop up your salted away funds and do a runner?
first world problems, I guess

I trust that is said with a touch of humour. A rare thing on political message boards

Sleepy

There's not too much to be humorous about with regards to Irish politics unless you've an extremely dark sense of humour patmar...

dunleakelleher

bladespin wrote: »

TBH Bertie (I know - I'm definately not saying he was any good at anything else) was so much better at presenting himself, he did give off a (false) confidence that the country seemed to draw from.

Biffo give off the impression of a blubbering idiot. Only an unelected taoiseach could get away with his level of incompetence. If FF went to the polls with him at the helm they would never have got in. . . and berty and the rest of the boys knew this. That's why it was done the way it was.

Dannyboy83

patmar wrote: »

I trust that is said with a touch of humour. A rare thing on political message boards

You did claim that you have personally benefited massively from them, with several luxurious homes abroad.

patmar wrote:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=65142672&postcount=13

If I was a TD I would go to the meeting tomorrow night and propose that not only should FF resign from government but also resign all seats and not contest an election. I would tell the meeting all those outside FF have the genius to run the country and make it a perfect place for the people. I would also say that all party members and those who voted FF in the past should emigrate immediately.

Thanks to FF I have a few properties around the world so wont le lost for a place to live

Do you mind if I ask what your occupation is?

Do you have a bank account?;)

patmar

I dont need a bank account I won all me money on the horses.

I dont have a job as I live off my winnings onthe horses and various developments

For goodnes sake will the ABFF ever stop slamming FF and even hint at what they have to offer when FF are gone !!

Dannyboy83

patmar wrote: »

I dont need a bank account I won all me money on the horses.

I dont have a job as I live off my winnings onthe horses and various developments

Little wonder you support FF so.
If I was in the oligarchy, I'd probably be in favour of continuing to live off the sweat of the working man myself.

For goodnes sake will the ABFF ever stop slamming FF and even hint at what they have to offer when FF are gone !!

Just adjust your eyes a few cm upward; I posted two links for you.

I realise you are a FF insider so you probably expect someone to pay you for this, or better yet, read it for you.

Not reading important things seems to be a FF trait, doesn't it?
Or would that be claiming not to remember and changing the story 5 times, lol.


But anyway FF is the way of the past bro.

FF is like a disease, like TB. It has stalked the Irish nation for generations but we are about to find a cure.
2012 will see the start of exciting times to live in!:)

Laminations

patmar wrote: »

perpetual losers who could not win an election even when on a plate as in 2007

Why was this election 'on a plate'?
Will we see you admit to FF failings?

Dannyboy83

Laminations wrote: »

Will we see you admit to FF failings?

You won't; because FF didn't fail him.

He is only interested in looking after No.1, just like his party.

sceptre

Back on topic please folks.

Patmar, your duty as a poster is to tackle the subject of any particular thread, not inject nothing more than a few bars of "rise up and follow Charlie". That applies to everyone by the way, regardless of your affiliations. The thread topic is always at least a loose set of lines to travel down. The clue to what the thread topic is about is typically in the thread title (Taoiseach's communication with the public: frequency?).

Everyone else, your duty is the same.

If anyone has difficulties with this, please contact me by PM.

/mod

Red Alert

I believe that Brian Cowen holds the media in contempt. Even when he addresses a TV reporter, he doesn't bother looking into the camera and talking to the people at home. He blathers something incomprehensible to the reporter while looking sideways. Very poor communication skills.

pog it

I actually don't believe Patmar's crap about owning multiple properties thanks to Fianna Fáil.

They are too cute to even let on such a thing. Attention seeking, sin an méid.

Dannyboy I agree with everything you are saying, except that I don't have faith in Fine Gael- I am trying, but it's not happening just yet.

dunleakelleher

Red Alert wrote: »

He blathers something incomprehensible to the reporter while looking sideways.

The classic body language of a person lying.
• A person who is lying to you will avoid making eye contact
• A liar is uncomfortable facing his questioner/accuser and may turn his head or body away.
• A guilty person gets defensive. An innocent person will often go on the offensive.
• The guilty person may speak more than natural, adding unnecessary details to convince you... they are not comfortable with silence or pauses in the conversation
• Liars sometimes avoid "lying" by not making direct statements. They imply answers instead of denying something directly.
• Words may be garbled and spoken softly, and syntax and grammar may be off. In other
words, his sentences will likely be muddled rather than emphasized.
Jazzus every speech Cowen makes has ALL of the above.

patmar

Red Alert wrote: »

I believe that Brian Cowen holds the media in contempt. Even when he addresses a TV reporter, he doesn't bother looking into the camera and talking to the people at home. He blathers something incomprehensible to the reporter while looking sideways. Very poor communication skills.

Cowen is under three prong attack from:

ABFF - 75% of the electorate in 2007 did not vote FF. Simple logic tells one that when things went wrong Cowen and FF were going to get a roasting

Media - hundreds of journalists are working day in day out to put words together to earn a living. They are like pigs in you know what at the moment with an endless supply to bash Cowen

Opposition - they are on the crest of a wave in the firm belief that after all these years they have Cowen and FF on the ropes

Cowen in the meantime is dealing with an unprecedented collapse in the economy. He is dealing with it in an upfront and honest manner and this is being exploited by people who have no other interest than to see the economy sink to the bottom just so they can get their hands on power.

Cowen has been accused of treason. I scream back HYPOCRISY and SEDITION
Cowen is incredibly patient. It is beyond my understanding how he can face intellectual inferiors like Kenny, Gilmore, Bruton and Burton and not show even more open contempt

I am FF and like Cowen facing endless abuse from people who have only one motive in life, destroy FF. Ask these people how Cowen can inflate the economy and at the same time make the necessary deflationary measures and all you get in reply is utter stonewalling.

How can Cowen communicate with people who 100% negative ?

moonpurple

this is the 'faith' in FF, that Brian Cowen is some sort of intellectual powerhouse.
He can speak in Irish, now and then, as many of us can, he is a good little doggie for the bishops and he once played a game not played by most men on the island: gaelic football. Yet a lot of us enjoy a game of ball.
That does not make you an intellectual powerhouse. That does make you a tribal backroom mover and shaker. These skills have proven worse than useless in the most testing period since the famine.
The polls indicate that most Irish people favour every other party except FF and the greens. That may be a majority of 'inferior' people making a choice, but the majority in an election is not populism, it is democratic will.

Greens, be a little less yellow, stop twittering and making anxious explanations, grow a pair, pull out and give us a big loud cross election to end this paralysis and rancour, bury the rotting corpse of the celtic tiger and move on, older and wiser as a society

Dannyboy83

pog it wrote: »

Dannyboy I agree with everything you are saying, except that I don't have faith in Fine Gael- I am trying, but it's not happening just yet.

That's fine by me; everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs, and everyone requires a different set of 'answers' (or 'lies' in FF's case) to satisfy their questions.

As far as I'm concerned, a vote for FG is 2 steps in the right direction, but simply not voting for FF is still 1 step in the right direction.

By not voting for FF, you are not part of the problem.
By voting for FG, IMO you are part of the solution (see my sig).

I don't have anything personal against FF supporters, I'm sure many of them mean well, I just see the non-corrupt ones as victims. Easily duped by a nefarious organisation.
My uncle was a staunch FF supporter all his life, but even he has relented at 57 years of age:) and acknowledged the party has been destroyed by corruption.

If a diehard like him has seen sense; I definitely think the country has a chance to succeed for the first time since the 1930s.
It mightn't and probably won't be perfect at first, but as long as FF are kept out of office, then we are moving in the right direction and have something to build on.

p.s. I imagine whoever the next leader is, they'll seem like the Oscar Wilde of the political world when compared to Clow(e)n.
A bit like Barrack Obama compared to Bush - doesn't even need to try to sound good:pac:

Dannyboy83

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

As far as I'm concerned, a vote for FG is 2 steps in the right direction, but simply not voting for FF is still 1 step in the right direction.

One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.:)

sceptre

Was there some part of this that people couldn't or wouldn't understand?

sceptre wrote: »

Back on topic please folks.

Patmar, your duty as a poster is to tackle the subject of any particular thread, not inject nothing more than a few bars of "rise up and follow Charlie". That applies to everyone by the way, regardless of your affiliations. The thread topic is always at least a loose set of lines to travel down. The clue to what the thread topic is about is typically in the thread title (Taoiseach's communication with the public: frequency?).

Everyone else, your duty is the same.

If anyone has difficulties with this, please contact me by PM.

/mod

Please take note, I'd rather you did that than me having to weed out the posts from people who choose not to and consigning them to the bin.

moonpurple

in reply to OP, just one communication would be fine

Brian Cowen: 'the green Party did not notify me of this hasty decision which the Irish people will not forgive easily at this time of international difficulty goin forward ...'

aidan24326

Pride Fighter wrote: »

Even though I'd never vote FF I'd respect them a lot more if they were just honest and open. I hate C.J Haughey but at least he did his 'living way beyond our means' speech. Such leadership is devoid from this government.

But Haughey did that speech while living the lifestyle of a millionaire himself. That sort of total hypocrisy is worse than saying nothing at all. Cowen is a poor communicator and I think he hates having to speak to the media at all, which is just one reason why he's not really cut out for that job.

moonpurple

Mr. Haughey gave his living beyond our means speech while buying 300 euros chravais shirts on Rue Hausmann in Paris, while his sidekick was taking delivery of bags of raw cash over the road, (the convict ray burke,) and while ben dunne was passing haughey buckets of cash to stop the revenue from properly examining the books of dunnes stores...

are you six?

C Eng

Brian Cowen and Communication. Just don't seem to go together.

No leadership or communciation skills. After all, might as well put Mary Coughlan in the same boat whilst your at it.

Aidric

It has been one of the most dissappointing aspects of Cowen's leadership. In a time of economic collapse a monthly address is hardly too much to ask. It could certainly go a good way towards filtering some of the hysteria that gets bandied about.

pog it

We need more than his appearing more often on radio, tv, etc.

We need live debates broadcast between himself and the opposition leaders and other key players in this.

Liam Byrne

Frequency ???? Surely the bigger issue is about quality, not quantity ?

pog it

My original question was how often is he talking to the public since January (I don't have a tv and wanted to hear people's feedback).

Of course we need quality, that's why I think there should be debate along with it-- which means more appearances more often on Frontline and Vincent Brown.

FF will pay dearly in the next elections. I'd be worried about a Labour/FF partnership although Labour are my favourite of them all. So FG might be the best way to vote to ensure FF are not put back in.

C Eng

I saw on the 9 oclock news, that Mr Cowen was visiting the new Aviva Stadium, really helpful, beneficial and reaasurring to the public image no doubt.