Cowen interview on Morning Irleand

[cork]

It may be a while before Mary Hanafin is asked to go out again and defend the indefensible.

The treatment of Cown by the media is more Indefensible.

Why is the Middle East Peace Process being ignored by RTE.

Even last night the coverage of the Controller and Auditor Generals report was poor.

 

[RMCF]

Perhaps they are beginning to go down the 'tabloid' route.

Forget about the real stories in the country/world, just concentrate on the goss.

 

[liaconn]

The treatment of Cown by the media is more Indefensible.

Why is the Middle East Peace Process being ignored by RTE.

Even last night the coverage of the Controller and Auditor Generals report was poor.

+1. Not a fan of Brian Cowen but this has been blown out of all proportion. I think it's time to let-it-go.

 

[Shawady]

The real winners have been the Labour party.
FF have been badly damaged by this and FG have not come out smelling of roses.

 

[Caveat]

To think he felt he had to apologise to the nation for this!

I can think of a million other things he should be apologising for before this.

 

[Shawady]

What did he actually apologise for?
Giving a bad interview? He is still adamant his performance had nothing to do with him drinking and singing songs until 3am.

 

[DerKaiser]

I really hope this is forgotten about quickly. Small minded hypocrites is the phrase that comes to mind.

Do we hang a man for turning up to work with a mild hangover?

I really despair at the sanctimonious drivel being spouted by the self appointed moral police.

People on hospital waiting lists, in negative equity and the dole have not ended up where they as a result of Cowan having a few pints on Monday night. We got ourselves into the situation we're in as a result of poor collective and individual economic decisions made soberly (sober of drink at least!) over a period of a number of years.

Don't scapegoat one boozy night for the woes of the country, and don't spout sanctimonious rubbish that Cowan is not entitled to a drink as if it somehow is disrespectful.

 

[Complainer]

Do we hang a man for turning up to work with a mild hangover?

Would you be OK with your taxi driver, or your GP, or your solicitor turning up to work for you with an obvious hangover?

 

[TarfHead]

Do we hang a man for turning up to work with a mild hangover?

If it was the ony aberration in a career of unblemished achievement - no.

But this is someone who was been in power for over 2 years and who takes the buck for many of the policy mistakes over the past 7 years and all of the policy mistakes over the last 2. I posted earlier in this thread, or in another related one, I turned off the MI interview cos once more Cowen was indulging in the bureaucratic jargon that infects most of his statements.

CMacC: One of the key elements of the Government’s strategy, the Croke Park Agreement, was criticised earlier in the programme by Leo Varadkar, who said that very little had been done to implement it. When are we going to see the kind of flexibility, the mobility, the big changes in the way the civil service, public service, works that that agreement promised?
BC: Well what’s going to happen now of course is, what people need to know is for next year we’re beginning discussions…what we have to do is align the estimates campaign with the industrial relations agenda. And what that’ll involve is where every department is setting out a [unclear] on the amount it’ll be able to have next year. It will be dealing with its on management and its own personnel and its own staff over coming months explaining that simply we have to get more from less, we want to avoid impact on those who…it’s during the course of this estimates campaign that we’ll be ending up with the situation where the allocations that will be made will require the implementation in many respects of the Good Friday of the, ah, sorry, the Croke Park Agreement, which is about redeployment, which is about better work practices…

This is why he deserves the criticism he's getting.

 

[DerKaiser]

Would you be OK with your taxi driver, or your GP, or your solicitor turning up to work for you with an obvious hangover?

I obviously wouldn't be impressed, but I don't think I'd be right to call for them to quit their jobs (unless I suspected the Taxi driver was still well over the legal limit), particularly if I'd dealt with them hangover free several times before.

If I was unhappy with the general service I was getting from them I'd probably be more likely to get agitated to see them hungover alright, but I definitely wouldn't be focussing on the one hungover day as being my major issue or as a basis for not using them again.

On the other hand if they generally did a good job, I'd certainly let one hungover day slide.

I think my view is that I have turned up to work hungover on occasion (not so much in the last few years) so I'm not going to be a hypocrite and turn around and say it's unacceptable for anyone else.

Presume most people have been to work hungover the odd time?

 

[Sunny]

I think my view is that I have turned up to work hungover on occasion (not so much in the last few years) so I'm not going to be a hypocrite and turn around and say it's unacceptable for anyone else.

Presume most people have been to work hungover the odd time?

Of course. Most of us have been there! But would you as a grown man do it knowing you had an important presentation or interview at 8.30am the next morning. He is not 21 years old.

 

[cork]

When did Ireland become a nation po faced self indulgents?

The outrage in the media and by the public is comtrieved.

What do these people want?

Curfews & prohibition.

 

[Sunny]

When did Ireland become a nation po faced self indulgents?

The outrage in the media and by the public is comtrieved.

What do these people want?

Curfews & prohibition.

No, just basic professionalism. The guy gets paid over 200k a year. Nobody begrudges him a night out. All he had to do was clear his schedule the next morning. If I gave that presentation in work, I would be in serious trouble and rightly so.

 

[thedaras]

On the other hand if they generally did a good job, I'd certainly let one hungover day slide.

The sentence above couldn't be truer..

I hope you can see that a lot of the people who are saying it was irresponsible,(etc) of the leader of the country ,who earns 200k plus ,in the depths of a recession,who was minister for finance etc,will say they wont let this slide because,, generally he does not do a good job..

I believe it is a build up of resentment and frustration and powerlessness that people are feeling and to hear the leader of the country,not preforming as he should because he was out at party central , was possibly the last straw.

Watch that space,it appears the greens are not prepared to pull down the government,the government are not prepared to have even local elections,people will find a way to get rid of them,and therefore politicians need to be exceptionally careful of how they behave and how they are seen to behave,when the public are suffering.

To sum up,I don't think it was nessasarily the "interview",but rather a build up of outrage at our current position.

 

[Sunny]

For me, it has nothing to do with past performance. If people here are seriously suggesting that they could go into work and meet clients/public and give the impression rightly or wrongly that you were on the tear the night before and there wouldn't be consequences, then we have a serious attitude problem towards alcohol. I go out during the week. Sometimes I drink too much. However, I am always aware if I have something on the following morning and act accordingly. I am not a child. The least I would do is get someone to cover for me if I did go overboard. I certainly wouldn't represent my company sounding like he did. Having said that, he has apologised so it us time to move on.

 

[Betsy Og]

The Philip Walton thing just makes the whole episode toe curling, GUBU territory. I think a) the bit of craic Biffo has on a night out shouldnt be put under the microscope - I presume he wasnt addressing the audience on a mic, & its not like he was making racist slurs or something serious and b) Walton should get over it, he should have seen it for what it was and laughed it off.

We're going to make a martyr out of Cowen for a finish!

 

[Sunny]

The Philip Walton thing just makes the whole episode toe curling, GUBU territory. I think a) the bit of craic Biffo has on a night out shouldnt be put under the microscope - I presume he wasnt addressing the audience on a mic, & its not like he was making racist slurs or something serious and b) Walton should get over it, he should have seen it for what it was and laughed it off.

We're going to make a martyr out of Cowen for a finish!

Yeah I agree with that. It is ridiculous.

 

[fobs]

The Philip Walton thing just makes the whole episode toe curling, GUBU territory. I think a) the bit of craic Biffo has on a night out shouldnt be put under the microscope - I presume he wasnt addressing the audience on a mic, & its not like he was making racist slurs or something serious and b) Walton should get over it, he should have seen it for what it was and laughed it off.

We're going to make a martyr out of Cowen for a finish!

i agree. My Husband just said he lost allrespect for WAlton when he had to get involved. He should stay out of it and letit slide. Has gift grub done a sketch on it yet?

 

[Shawady]

Has gift grub done a sketch on it yet?

Gift Grub will get years of material out of this!

 

[Staples]

my concern is the realisation that the Taoiseach of the country has time to work on a comedy routine.

How does it work? You get home after a long day discussing the state ofn the economy, the banking crisis, the prospects for Nama and the sepending deficit and you say to yourself "i think I'll work on my Philip Walton impression - the voice is ok but i need to improve the script!"