Who is worse: Bertie Ahern or Brian Cowen?

Rebelheart

For me, there's no contest: Bertie Ahern is infinitely worse. There he is off in the sunset on God only knows how many pensions (not to mention at least one house given to him as a present by a property developer - you couldn't invent this shít!) and coming up with gems like: 'When I left, the economy was in great shape"

Yet here on Afterhours, it's Cowen who *always* gets the shít. It's Cowen who's cleaning up the mess which was presided over by Patrick Bartholomew Ahern. Ahern is the corrupt bubble-inflating lying bastard here. Ahern is the guy who told people to "commit suicide" when they questioned the real strength of his "Celtic Tiger" and the huge increases he gave himself and other public servants.

As bad as Cowen is - he was second in command for many of those years - will Irish people have the decency to stop putting all the blame on him and letting this Ahern guy off scot-free?

The day, a few weeks ago, when Ahern came out and said he left the economy in great shape made my blood boil so much. Cowen is, in this context, the scapegoat.

AckwelFoley

Bertie is a better communicator and more of a people person.

Brian Cowen is from Offaly.

Sanjuro

Brian Cowen

Which is worse? Being punched in the nuts or being kicked in the nuts?

Jesus Wept

Brian Cowen

Bertie, no question. He is a crook imo.

admiralofthefleet

Brian Cowen

bertie by a mile, cowen inherited an imminent economic collapse. tony blair did the same in the uk and left gordon brown to pick up the pieces

Biggins

Brian Cowen

Sanjuro wrote: »

Which is worse? Being punched in the nuts or being kicked in the nuts?

Having your nuts taken from you, then for good measure, getting screwed in the ass - and taxed for the service!

O'... Bertie!

happyoutscan

Brian Cowen

Bertie is a conniving shnipe.

My name is URL

Brian Cowen

Cowen does as well as he can.. he's still inept but I do think his heart is in the right place most of the time. Bertie is just Bertie.. I used to think he was just a cnut, but since he appeared in that ad it's obvious that he's a cnut with serious delusional problems.

galwayrush

Brian Cowen

Hmm, that's like a choice between being forced to drink rats piss or rats piss from a different one seperated only by a different accent..

starbelgrade

Brian Cowen

Rebelheart wrote: »

Cowen is, in this context, the scapegoat.

Brian Cowen could hardly be called a scapegoat by any stretch of the imagination. He was Minister for Finance during much of the Celtuc Tiger era & Tainiste for the year preceeding his appointment as Taoiseach.

Gran Hermano

Cacer or AIDS?

A stroke or a heart attack?

Tough choices bro'

AckwelFoley

Weepsie wrote: »

this is the same dedededede eh eh ehe eh bertie who can barely string a coherent sentence together at times. crook, should be locked up

Doesnt change the fact he's a better communicator.

I never said he was linguistic genius

ascanbe

Bertie Ahern is more responsible for the current mess; but Cowen isn't without responsibility.
Brian Lenihan is turning out to be worse than either of them.

starbelgrade

Brian Cowen

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Cacer or AIDS?

A stroke or a heart attack?

Tough choices bro'

Good AIDS or bad AIDS?

bryaner

Brian Cowen

Definitely Bono.

Donkey Oaty

"But Bertie gives a lot of his own money to charity."

- Comment made to me by a Bertie supporter in the context of a discussion on the state of the nation's finances.

This is the real problem.

Jesus wept.

Ulysses Gaze

Brian Cowen

ascanbe wrote: »

Bertie Ahern is more responsible for the current mess; but Cowen isn't without responsibility.
Brian Lenihan is turning out to be worse than either of them.

+1

Lenihan is going to be looked back on with disgust.

OPENROAD

snyper wrote: »

Bertie is a better communicator and more of a people person.

Brian Cowen is from Offaly.

Doesn't say much for the others that

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Brian Cowen

Cowan, in fairness to him, inherited the mess. Bertie was the gob****e who made it. And Bertie was, of course, voted in twice (or was it three times??) by the Irish public, so, IMHO, it's hidden option three: The Electorate.

Agricola

They're as bad as each other. Bertie is just a cute hoor who can talk his way out of anything. I wouldnt give Cowen an ounce of leeway. He was the minister for finance at the time of the bubble and did nothing except inflate it further. He got a reputation for being a bulldog, someone who thought he was always right and fcúk the detractors. I clearly remember him being on Questions & Answers in 04 or 05. When someone questioned his economic policies he looked at them incredulously and said "Excuse me, Im the minister for finance you know!" :rolleyes:

The sooner all these gombeen, back slapping parish pump politicians are kicked out of office the better. Its just a pity they are going to be replaced with same.

Jesus Wept

Brian Cowen

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Cacer or AIDS?

A stroke or a heart attack?

Tough choices bro'

Bit harsh on Cowen tbh. He is just a useless cúnt, Bertie a thoroughly corrupt cúnt.

It's more like the difference between a schuttry fart and bowel cancer.

OPENROAD

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

Cowan, in fairness to him, inherited the mess. Bertie was the gob****e who made it. And Bertie was, of course, voted in twice (or was it three times??) by the Irish public, so, IMHO, it's hidden option three: The Electorate.

Really

Jamiekelly

Cowen because he was minister for finance when the collapse was coming and he just laughed at anyone who said the celtic tiger was'nt gonna last forever. Bertie is still a corrupt cnut though

th3 s1aught3r

Brian Cowen

The problem with them all is that they are part of the Irish Mafia known as Fianna Fail. They put that before everything, including Ireland

Rebelheart

Brian Cowen

OPENROAD wrote: »

Really

Yes, really.

Cheap Thrills!

Brian Cowen

One sh!t does plenty! :mad:

Another has a lot done, a lot more to DOO DOO !!!! :mad::mad::mad:

Rebelheart

Brian Cowen

Jamiekelly wrote: »

Cowen because he was minister for finance when the collapse was coming and he just laughed at anyone who said the celtic tiger was'nt gonna last forever. Bertie is still a corrupt cnut though

If I recall correctly, it was Ahern who suggested that people who were questioning the "boom" should "commit suicide" (and Mary O Rourke stated that anybody who questioned Ahern's integrity was guilty of "treason" [her actual word])

Where does Cowen fit into this?

OPENROAD

Jamiekelly wrote: »

anyone who said the celtic tiger was'nt gonna last forever.

So did everyone in fairness, you could not say boo against the Celtic Tiger.

starbelgrade

Brian Cowen

Rebelheart wrote: »

If I recall correctly, it was Ahern who suggested that people who were questioning the "boom" should "commit suicide" (and Mary O Rourke stated that anybody who questioned Ahern's integrity was guilty of "treason" [her actual word])

Where does Cowen fit into this?

Minister for Finance 2004-08, Tánaiste from 2007 to 2008.

OPENROAD

Rebelheart wrote: »

Yes, really.

What is the role of the minister for Finance?

StupidLikeAFox

Brian Cowen

starbelgrade wrote: »

Good AIDS or bad AIDS?

Visual Aids!

barbarians

Brian Cowen

Bertie "it eh eh was ffffine when I was t-t-t-Taoiseach" Ahern.

Cowen is just a man caught in the wrong place at the wrong time although he is making a gigantic hash of trying to fix his problem.

brianthebard

Brian Cowen

Overall bertie is worse, but Cowen obviously doesn't have a shred of common decency, if he had he would have opposed Bertie's constant ****e or would have called a general election after berts stood down.

Son Of A Vidic

Brian Cowen

starbelgrade wrote: »

Good AIDS or bad AIDS?

Just what I was thinking, choosing between Bertie and Brian is a bit like choosing between HIV and AIDS - same difference! Both are scum that you wouldn't want to be associated with.

PeterIanStaker

Brian Cowen

Where's the "put a bullet in each of their heads" option?

PeterIanStaker

Brian Cowen

barbarians wrote: »

Cowen is just a man caught in the wrong place at the wrong time although he is making a gigantic hash of trying to fix his problem.

He was finance minister when the empty foundations of sand of the C**** T**** was being built, and the banks were given a free hand and no questions were being asked of them. How is that being in the "wrong place"?
Also, Cowen couldn't go to the bathroom without being told to. The man's a dullard. There is this dictatorial culture within FF that Haughey brought in. Nobody questions the chief.

th3 s1aught3r

Brian Cowen

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

There is this dictatorial culture within FF that Haughey brought in. Nobody questions the chief.

Exactly. Cowen is also very much a tribal leader , as in he is FF first and foremost. They dont want to hear from anyone who isnt part of the FF family
As I said earlier, much like the mafia

Killer Pigeon

Fianna Fáil in general.

yermanoffthetv

Brian Cowen

barbarians wrote: »

Cowen is just a man caught in the wrong place at the wrong time although he is making a gigantic hash of trying to fix his problem.

Like becoming the minister for finance in 04 and began that position with a "givaway" budget and continued to be flathhulach with the cash till he became tioseach? He was (and is) in the wrong place alright.:rolleyes:

barbarians

Brian Cowen

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

He was finance minister when the empty foundations of sand of the C**** T**** was being built, and the banks were given a free hand and no questions were being asked of them. How is that being in the "wrong place"?
Also, Cowen couldn't go to the bathroom without being told to. The man's a dullard. There is this dictatorial culture within FF that Haughey brought in. Nobody questions the chief.

Yes, I know Cowen is majorly at fault for the ruination for the state and that he he was finance Minister at the time of the boom, what I mean by saying he was in the wrong place is that Ahern resigned as Taoiseach to leave the mess to be dealt with by Cowen.

He was the (although guilty) scapegoat when the country went down because Ahern jumped ship to save himself.


He is the face of the recession while Ahern is just cursed at by people because he got his timing right and Cowen was left in the wrong place at the wrong time i.e. he might be hated more by some people due to the recession when in fact Ahern is worse.

Grimreaper666

Brian Cowen

While Cowen comes across as a bit of a half wit, Ahern is a slimy f**ker who's gotten away with murder, he should honestly be jailed and made an example of really.

OPENROAD

barbarians wrote: »

Yes, I know Cowen is majorly at fault for the ruination for the state and that he he was finance Minister at the time of the boom, what I mean by saying he was in the wrong place is that Ahern resigned as Taoiseach to leave the mess to be dealt with by Cowen.

.

Well if ahern had not resigned he would probably have still been minister for Finance and still had to sort the mess out,it is the Minister of Finance who comes up with economic policy in conjunction with others, I know what you are trying to say but I don't see how it is valid.

barbarians

Brian Cowen

OPENROAD wrote: »

Well if ahern had not resigned he would probably have still been minister for Finance and still had to sort the mess out,it is the Minister of Finance who comes up with economic policy in conjunction with others, I know what you are trying to say but I don't see how it is valid.

Alright lads I'll admit it I made a bit of a hash of what I was trying to say.

Brian Cowen is terrible but Bertie Ahern is worse.

Absurdum

Brian Cowen

I'd like to shove that ****ing spire on O'Connell St up Bertie's arse.

round tower huntsman

Brian Cowen

ahern is a scumbag. cowen is a fool,probably corrupt as well but he's not as scummy as ahern. ahern is lowest of low.

barbarians

Brian Cowen

Absurdum wrote: »

I'd like to shove that ****ing spire on O'Connell St up Bertie's arse.

What a pleasant image.

Absurdum

Brian Cowen

barbarians wrote: »

What a pleasant image.

At least it's not Cowen


for now

derfderf

Brian Cowen

AH is on the ball this time. Was it Bertie copied John Gilligans "I won it on a horse" excuse or the other way around?
If any gangster gave the criminal assets bureau any of the excuses bertie used they'd be laughed at.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Brian Cowen

OPENROAD wrote: »

Really

Yep. Really.

Jamiekelly wrote: »

Cowen because he was minister for finance when the collapse was coming and he just laughed at anyone who said the celtic tiger was'nt gonna last forever. Bertie is still a corrupt cnut though

I think, again, he came into it long after the rot had started. Messers McCreevy and Ahearn, the ministers before him, were the ones who were allowing the financial sector to do what it liked. Not saying Cowen is blameless, but he certainly is not the worst, as the title of the thread requies.

The Agogo

OP, to me you might as well of put up a poll saying:

"Fianna Fail or Fianna Fail"

Anyway, there are some amount of hypocrites on this thread, if the majority voted them in.

Most of you presumably voted for them, so eat your sour cake and get on with it.

Although saying that, Fine Gael, Sinn Fein, PDs, Greens . Not a whole lot of choice tbh!

MickShamrock

Cowen. He was Minister for Finance. He should have seen it coming.