The Fiscal Taskmaster - or the Emperor's New Clothes

Last night I was interviewed by 'The Emerald Hour' a radio programme for the Irish community which is part of the community radio station, Radio Verulam based in St Albans. I was asked to speak about the political situation in Ireland and I am afraid that I gave a rather gloomy picture. Anyone who goes to Ireland regularly or who follows events there could not do otherwise. Lydia, one of the presenters, introduced two shocking new facts about Ireland which she asked me to comment on.

The first was that the Irish Green Party, currently in the coalition government with Fianna Fail, had, according to Lydia, stated recently when she was over in Ireland that further expenditure on railway construction was not necessary as the motorways built during the Celtic Tiger boom made any such plans redundant. I found this astonishing and said that it was very short term thinking. I referred to the recently opened West Coast line running from Galway to Clare as a real step forward but was also concerned about the possible closure of the rail link from Wexford to Rosslare, which links up with the ferries coming from Wales. If this report re the Irish Greens is true, then it is simply appalling. Ireland has terrible pollution and traffic congestion problems because of its undeveloped rail network and at one point several years ago it stood in second place to Luxemburg in the EU for the amount of pollution produced from motor traffic. The only reason why Luxemburg's figure was higher was because so many cars from other EU countries pass through the Principality.

The second shock from Lydia was to discover that Brian Cowen, the current Fianna Fail Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of the Irish Republic has been voted one of the top ten world leaders by Newsweek magazine. At first I thought it was a joke, but no it is true! Newsweek described him as 'The Fiscal Taskmaster' and stated that he had shown firm leadership by administering hard medicine to the Irish people and economy. My response to this was to express surprise and to tell Lydia that I was aware that he was one of the most highly paid world leaders with the exception of President Obama. When asked why I thought that Newsweek had awarded him this accolade my reply was that somone must have crossed their palms with silver!

On reflction, I think that my initial reaction was not that far off the mark. Newsweek clearly likes Cowen, because he is administering the harsh medicine to the people of Ireland which the captains of industry and the US corporations and Wall Street want. The same article described the Irish people as "an ungracious lot" who showed no appreciation for his efforts. However, 'Newsweek' acknowledges that Mr Cowen's measures have won greater respect abroad than at home, and warned he can expect "a drubbing" in the General Election.  No Taoiseach in the history of the State has seen his satisfaction rating as low as the 18pc currently held by Mr Cowen. I suspect that the Irish people will award Mr Cowen another accolade at the next general election, when he finally summons the courage to call one. Some constituencies in Ireland have had no parliamentary representation for over a year as the government is running scared of calling an election, certain that they will lose their majority. I would argue that this manipulation of the political system displays naked opportunism and fear rather than leadership.

The sooner that Mr Cowen is thrust into the nearest wastepaper basket along with crumpled copies of Newsweek magazine the better for the Irish people and Irish politics.