Vincent Browne's questioning of Brian Cowen was brillant

sparkling sea

I salute Vincent Browne on his questioning of Brian Cowen.

You are right Vincent, as Minister for Finance and now as Taoiseach he is a terrible. We could never trust FF now with the national finances, they have proved to be incapable, they need to leave office now for the good of the country.

PLEASE GO NOW

Liam Byrne

The phrasing of his questioning - while subject-wise being on the ball - gave Cowen too much scope to weasel out of it with his rehearsed "I don't accept that".

cazzak79

wonder how we could get him to go.
his like a big child being to go but he dosnt want to

Happyman42

Browne is like a drunk stuttering around in the hope of finding a good question. Terrible television style....pass the remote!

dlofnep

Liam Byrne wrote: »

The phrasing of his questioning - while subject-wise being on the ball - gave Cowen too much scope to weasel out of it with his rehearsed "I don't accept that".

I don't accept that premise!

Oh, don't you now Cowen? How convenient!

SIX PACK

Brian Cowen doing what he does best ducking & diving around the questions.
Its a very sad day for Ireland Tá brón orm R.I.P Éire

NickDrake

Legend. No one else had the balls to do it.

SIX PACK

Happyman42 wrote: »

Browne is like a drunk stuttering around in the hope of finding a good question. Terrible television style....pass the remote!

Whats your problem? Do you even know the seriousness of the situation were in???
At least he asked those Scumbags the hardline questions. Albeit Cowen wouldn't take any responsibility for the shambles were in.

sparkling sea

Happyman42 wrote: »

Browne is like a drunk stuttering around in the hope of finding a good question. Terrible television style....pass the remote!

I wouldn't be a lover of his style myself but I have to admit he did well tonight;)

Scofflaw

sparkling sea wrote: »

I salute Vincent Browne on his questioning of Brian Cowen.

You are right Vincent, as Minister for Finance and now as Taoiseach he is a terrible. We could never trust FF now with the national finances, they have proved to be incapable, they need to leave office now for the good of the country.

Fianna Fáil proved themselves incapable of handling the public finances starting in 1997 - we're only now seeing the fallout from that.

cordially,
Scofflaw

Happyman42

SIX PACK wrote: »

Whats your problem? Do you even know the seriousness of the situation were in???
At least he asked those Scumbags the hardline questions. Albeit Cowen wouldn't take any responsibility for the shambles were in.

Cowen has never taken responsibility...good decision by RTE director to cut away from another tired journo trying to up his ratings with 'populist' (Garrett Fitz) clap.

Duckytech

Happyman42 wrote: »

Browne is like a drunk stuttering around in the hope of finding a good question. Terrible television style....pass the remote!

Yea agree. Vincent Browne = Mr. Soundbite.

copacetic

sparkling sea wrote: »

I salute Vincent Browne on his questioning of Brian Cowen.

You are right Vincent, as Minister for Finance and now as Taoiseach he is a terrible. We could never trust FF now with the national finances, they have proved to be incapable, they need to leave office now for the good of the country.

PLEASE GO NOW

His questioning was meaningless playing to the camera to put in his show. Instead of trying to get answers to actual questions he was reduced to heckling abuse and nothing much more. If this is what we are calling 'brillant' <sic> then it shows how low we have sunk. He let Cowen off the hook and forced an early end to the press conference due to his going so much over the top.

One incoherent self serving malcontent 'journo' shouting at another incoherent self serving politician.

Dannyboy83

Scofflaw wrote: »

Fianna Fáil proved themselves incapable of handling the public finances starting in 1997 - we're only now seeing the fallout from that.

cordially,
Scofflaw

I presume you mean 1977? (giveaway bonanza)

copacetic

Garret has put him into his place on his show tonight for his antics.

'Theres no point in all these rants Vincent, a bit of serious discussion would be nice'

of course it led directly to a shouted rant!

thebman

Cowen was Minister for Finance and prior to becoming the leader of the country and must accept responsiblity for what has happened as he implemented many of the policies that caused it even if Bertie was encouraging him to do it.

Its still his responsibility as he caved to Bertie's unsustainable desires.

Duckytech

Brownes plugging for his own show on The Late Late during Johnny Giles was comical and cringe worthy..shows you what he's about.

Fussgangerzone

copacetic wrote: »

Garret has put him into his place on his show tonight for his antics.

'Theres no point in all these rants Vincent, a bit of serious discussion would be nice'

of course it led directly to a shouted rant!

Serious discussion would be fantastic, but FF aren't up for it. If Browne had talked the stars down from the sky, all he'd get would be "I don't accept that premise".

Liam Byrne

Scofflaw wrote: »

Fianna Fáil proved themselves incapable of handling the public finances starting in 1997 - we're only now seeing the fallout from that.

Slightly off-topic, but that begs the obvious question why The Greens went into government with them ?

If they "proved themselves incapable" since 1997 but we're only now "seeing the fallout", does that mean that it's only now that they've proved themselves ?

Or is it just possible that those of us who have objected to them for the last 7 or 8 years (before that re Haughey, but since about 2002 re economic suicide) are more savvy than The Greens ?

copacetic

Fussgangerzone wrote: »

Serious discussion would be fantastic, but FF aren't up for it. If Browne had talked the stars down from the sky, all he'd get would be "I don't accept that premise".

Agreed they'll dodge anyway. However starting every question with ranting rhetoric allows them to say that and it to be true.

Fussgangerzone

It doesn't matter what you think of Vincent Brown the way I see it, because one fact remains.

When it comes to criticising the current government, his is the loudest critical voice on Irish television. Is he the man I'd put up there? No, there are much smarter people out there who I think would be more help to us. But at least he's doing it.

I'm sick of this problem so many Irish people have, where anybody who complains is an eejit, yet there's nothing idiotic about taking it all lying down. It's our lack of fight as a population that has us where we are today.

Anyway who ridicules those who complain about our government, regardless of their erudition or success, can be counted among the reasons why we've sank so low. We are reaping the harvest of a hundred thousand betrayals.

Red Alert

Vincent Browne's questioning was straightforward and to the point. It showed up Brian Dobson and the other also-rans in RTE who wouldn't step up to the plate. Cowen openly showed contempt on tonight's show, and to be honest his behaviour looked like a sketch on Apres Match.

Happyman42

Fussgangerzone wrote: »

When it comes to criticising the current government, his is the loudest critical voice on Irish television.

^ wrong imo

The thread title makes a statement I disagree with. Simple as that.

Scofflaw

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Slightly off-topic, but that begs the obvious question why The Greens went into government with them ?

If they "proved themselves incapable" since 1997 but we're only now "seeing the fallout", does that mean that it's only now that they've proved themselves ?

Or is it just possible that those of us who have objected to them for the last 7 or 8 years (before that re Haughey, but since about 2002 re economic suicide) are more savvy than The Greens ?

I can't really speak for the party, given I'm not even a member, so any analysis I offer is necessarily personal. I suspect it was partly the result of the 2007 election, which was supposed to deliver a Fine Gael landslide and didn't - instead the smaller parties all got squeezed, but Fine Gael still didn't have the numbers for government, while Fianna Fáil were reasonably weak. Also, the damage being done to the Irish environment by Fianna Fáil was a standing issue - and the proper response to that was to take up Fiana Fáil's offer rather than reject it because Fianna Fáil were damaging the environment. It's worth bearing in mind that the Greens are, in many senses, a movement rather than a party, so what they were trading here works on a slightly different basis than the normal political one. Trading the ability to tone down the damage being done by Fianna Fáil and the hope of putting some longer-lasting changes in place against a purely cosmetic role in a rainbow coalition was a worthwhile bet, and, to be honest, still is.

cordially,
Scofflaw

Liam Byrne

Scofflaw wrote: »

Also, the damage being done to the Irish environment by Fianna Fáil was a standing issue - and the proper response to that was to take up Fiana Fáil's offer rather than reject it because Fianna Fáil were damaging the environment

The point wasn't related to the damage to "the environment"; the point was related to them damaging the economy and the public finances :

Scofflaw wrote: »

Fianna Fáil proved themselves incapable of handling the public finances starting in 1997 - we're only now seeing the fallout from that.

There's nothing to do with the environment in your original post, and answering re the environment doesn't make sense.

My question was that if FF were so obviously damaging to and incompetent re the public finances since 1997 (your post), why did the Greens enter government with them ?

Fussgangerzone

Happyman42 wrote: »

^ wrong imo

The thread title makes a statement I disagree with. Simple as that.

Please, share your opinion on who is the loudest critic of the government on Irish television.

As for his questioning tonight, no it wouldn't call it brilliant either. I think somebody had to ask those questions though, and nobody else was.

SkepticOne

Scofflaw wrote: »

Fianna Fáil proved themselves incapable of handling the public finances starting in 1997 - we're only now seeing the fallout from that.

We? Speak for yourself please.

yoshytoshy

Really like Vincent Brownes approach to interviews. Always seems to get a genuine response ,both socially and professionally.
Cowen always dishonest with the air of waffle in his voice ,anything to justify being paid his crazy money.

It'll be a busy week on tv this week.

Michael Collins

How many of ye voted for FF? Come on, own up now...

seachto7

Happyman42 wrote: »

Cowen has never taken responsibility...good decision by RTE director to cut away from another tired journo trying to up his ratings with 'populist' (Garrett Fitz) clap.

Are you serious? So, we had to tune into British stations to see what was going on....

thebman

SkepticOne wrote: »

We? Speak for yourself please.

Your reading it in the wrong context obvious, we are only seeing the fallout now and we the people are only seeing the fallout now.

People might have seen the problems coming but this is the fallout which we are seeing now.

alang184

I agree with this thread title.

Once again, Browne has shown up to be one of the only journalists to show some b*lls, with some hard-hitting questions - asking the questions which the public want to hear, that nobody else will ask (in that situation), and that no politician wants to answer.

SkepticOne

thebman wrote: »

Your reading it in the wrong context obvious, we are only seeing the fallout now and we the people are only seeing the fallout now.

People might have seen the problems coming but this is the fallout which we are seeing now.

OK, I may have overreacted there.

SkepticOne

I see that although RTE seems to have used a 15 second delay to cut Browne from the live conference, his segment and his alone is being shown repeatedly on Sky news.

Happyman42

seachto7 wrote: »

Are you serious? So, we had to tune into British stations to see what was going on....

Problem is a lot of people don't seem to have much experience of these tele events. A programme would have been 'planned' with analysis...it is always the case that they will eventually cut away from a press conference when the waffling starts to allow for the analysis of the main points. That's what happened here.
btw There is no comparison between the panel and the discussion on RTE's Week In Politics and Talk****e With Vincent Browne.

Somebody was ranting on another thread about Brian Dobson 'deliberately' shielding Mary Hanafin by cutting away to the Donegal By Election not withstanding the fact that a producer would have been telling him to wind it up about 40 seconds before and the programme would have been preplanned....not allowed to meander all over the shop like TWVB.

thebman

The scariest thing so far in all this for me is when Peter Matthews started saying that we should look at the positives and that we still have our buildings and infrastructure unlike most countries after WW2.

The fact that this is a self-inflicted disaster that can even be compared in financial size to what would have happened a country after WW2 should make Irish people realise what we have done to our country and what this government has done to this country.

Peter Matthews is not a populist person screaming nonsense from the side lines. He has been right on much of the costing of this crisis.

alang184

SkepticOne wrote: »

I see that although RTE seems to have used a 15 second delay to cut Browne from the live conference, his segment and his alone is being shown repeatedly on Sky news.

Really? I'm tuning into Sky News right now then.

loldog

It was amusing when Vincent starting asking Garrett what he thought of the idea of Enda Kenny as Taoiseach.

.

feicim

copacetic wrote: »

Garret has put him into his place on his show tonight for his antics.

'Theres no point in all these rants Vincent, a bit of serious discussion would be nice'

of course it led directly to a shouted rant!

Enough discussion. Discussions are boring, The public needs to see these incompetent politicians getting treated with the respect they deserve.. i.e. none.

Personally I'd love it if they got Clowen and Lenihan onto a chatshow where the presenters just poked them with a pointy stick for a half an hour.

Obviously it would solve nothing but it would make the world seem a more just place, which is seriously lacking in this country at the moment.

SB-08

It's on YT now - not the best quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXOKtr3lDOY

It reminded me of when Browne grilled Bertie 3 years ago. Although Bertie was a far far better waffler than Clowen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6tQN6H_tVY

scr123

sparkling sea wrote: »

I salute Vincent Browne on his questioning of Brian Cowen.

You are right Vincent, as Minister for Finance and now as Taoiseach he is a terrible. We could never trust FF now with the national finances, they have proved to be incapable, they need to leave office now for the good of the country.

PLEASE GO NOW

Did you not notice the little frown on Cowen's face when Browne opened his stupid mouth, that look saying " this idiot" was priceless. Have you not noticed how calm and relaxed Cowen is on all his tv and radio appearances ? Did you not notice the dismissive tone n Cowen's voice ?
When oh when are the ABFF going to get the message their endless party poiltics are irrelevant and its economics that counts !

Het-Field

scr123 wrote: »

Did you not notice the little frown on Cowen's face when Browne opened his stupid mouth, that look saying " this idiot" was priceless. Have you not noticed how calm and relaxed Cowen is on all his tv and radio appearances ? Did you not notice the dismissive tone n Cowen's voice ?
When oh when are the ABFF going to get the message their endless party poiltics are irrelevant and its economics that counts !

"Dismissive", "idiot" ? Who was it who was at the helm when the IMF came to town.

Would you just get lost ? You have never contributed to this website

steelcityblues

scr123 wrote: »

Did you not notice the little frown on Cowen's face when Browne opened his stupid mouth, that look saying " this idiot" was priceless. Have you not noticed how calm and relaxed Cowen is on all his tv and radio appearances ? Did you not notice the dismissive tone n Cowen's voice ?
When oh when are the ABFF going to get the message their endless party poiltics are irrelevant and its economics that counts !

That was a resigned face - a defeated face - a face that said 'I have made a complete c*ck up as Taoiseach since I was appointed!' It was obvious looking at him with Leninhan that this isn't a united FF too anymore.

Only you and the remaining supporters now in full denial mode would be deluded enough to think otherwise.

If you were voting on economics, FF would be the last option in 2010. Unless, you can spin how our country showing a vulnerable face to the rest of the world is somehow OK! :rolleyes:

lizzyxox08

sparkling sea wrote: »

I salute Vincent Browne on his questioning of Brian Cowen.

You are right Vincent, as Minister for Finance and now as Taoiseach he is a terrible. We could never trust FF now with the national finances, they have proved to be incapable, they need to leave office now for the good of the country.

PLEASE GO NOW

Hiya im having a bit of trouble understanding what will now be happening with the country now that the IMF have come along and they government has accepted that we need help! just wondering if now it will be better or worse, and what kind of financial strains will now be put on us.
can anybody explain if you dont mind

Riddle101

I think Vincent Browne is faily good at his job. He tends to expose people's flaws and I like that. However, the way he acts as well as some other annying things are his downfall. He just always comes off as if he's hungover or something.

sparkling sea

Happyman42 wrote: »

Problem is a lot of people don't seem to have much experience of these tele events. A programme would have been 'planned' with analysis...it is always the case that they will eventually cut away from a press conference when the waffling starts to allow for the analysis of the main points. That's what happened here.
btw There is no comparison between the panel and the discussion on RTE's Week In Politics and Talk****e With Vincent Browne.

Somebody was ranting on another thread about Brian Dobson 'deliberately' shielding Mary Hanafin by cutting away to the Donegal By Election not withstanding the fact that a producer would have been telling him to wind it up about 40 seconds before and the programme would have been preplanned....not allowed to meander all over the shop like TWVB.

Yes coverage is often cut when the waffling starts however its naive to think that Vincent Brownes questioning which was extremely relevent to the Irish people was cut for the reason your suggesting. Most Irish people would be interested in Brian Cowens answers to questions such as
What level of debt will this country have in 1 years time on the basis of the calculations you have been working on over the last while - in your estimation? Your working assumption.

What burden of will the Irish people have in 1 year 2 years 3 years in your estimation? Wouldn't we all like to know the answer - even just a rough estimate

To what extent are you seeding responsiblity to do with the management of the Irish economy in relation to this deal? ( I think this is what he asked)

At no stage have you acknowledged that you are the person now, still holding public office who is most culpability for screwing up this country, can you acknowlege that now? Everyone would want to hear the answer to this question and only people with an agenda (what ever it is - be it support for the government or they don't like VB or they didnt want to give TV3 publicity would deny the public the oppourtunity to hear the answer


Brian Dobson has a wealth of experience chairing discussions and should and is able to alter preplanned discussions when necessary, in opinion it was necessary late night.

To say that plans cannot be changed because the are preplanned is again naive.

I am not usually a lover of Vincent Browne although I do regularly watch his programme - however I feel we need someone to ask the question we all feel needed to be asked - When are you Taoiseach going to take resonsibility for the mess you have caused and do the patriotic thing and resign? Vincent was brillant because he asked this question and behalf of the people.

BluntGuy

sparkling sea wrote: »

I am not usually a lover of Vincent Browne although I do regularly watch his programme - however I feel we need someone to ask the question we all feel needed to be asked - When are you Taoiseach going to take resonsibility for the mess you have caused and do the patriotic thing and resign? Vincent was brillant because he asked this question and behalf of the people.

Exactly, for once someone just bluntly put out there how people were feeling - he brought a little reality to the situation. Vincent isn't all that amazing, but at least he asks questions and challenges people when they try to waffle their way out of giving answers. You can clearly see his frustration and I think it mirrors the frustration of the Irish people. On RTE's horrible Primetime and shows of that ilk, it's a mild poke at best to the prepared speeches.

Happyman42

Could you post examples of 'Irish' instances of that kind of approach getting results?

The problem with the internet and some of the lesser media outlets in this country is good production values and editorial practices or the very existence of an editor at all. (the Internet) Therefore you have to wade through inconsequential pap to find what you want.
I 'trust' certain newspapers to edit the pap and to cut to the chase. I trust RTE (on balance) in it's editorial decisions. They don't always get it right. Somebody as editor or producer made a decision to cut away from Browne attempting to get answers nobody else has gotten before. It was deemed wasteful of valuable schedule time...which imo is fair enough.Their job as a public service broadcaster is not to pander to your anger or bloodlust. If it's rants and egotiscal raves you want, just put The Rabbitte on Prime Time on repeat, it's essentially the same thing.
I prefer analysis and considered comment, regardless of whether I agree with it or not.

electrogrimey

The didn't cut it because it was "deemed wasteful of valuable schedule time", they cut it because they are a subjective pro-government broadcaster. That's the problem here. I don't think people would be as angry if they cut it because of a broadcasting mistake, or a technical reason. The reason people are angry is because of how clear it is that they deliberately cut it.

Happyman42

electrogrimey wrote: »

they cut it because they are a subjective pro-government broadcaster.

^^ Trite, cheap nonsense imo. Are you listening to RTE radio now?

A 'rant' event on 'RTE' that actually changed something.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jHqndf9Kx4

What of sinister 15 second delays and censorship in the above? (and many more instance actually) Is that a 'Fianna Faill' Minister taking the flak there?

P.S. BTW If you don't trust your news media to do the editing (because they all do) you have the choice not to subscribe.

paulaa

BBC News showing SF protesters getting through the gate and into the courtyard of Dail Eireann. Not a peep on RTE 1 O.clock news about it as usual