Whiff of Cowen cologne puts off voters
DAIL SKETCH/JOHN DRENNAN
Sunday May 31 2009
Sometimes, just as you wonder if the way everything goes wrong for Brian Cowen is fair the Taoiseach's response to the Ryan report into child abuse clarifies everything.
Enda Kenny, who if not the next Taoiseach should be appointed to a new Ministry of National Empathy, caught the mood perfectly as he said the real tragedy here was the damage done to those who had experienced a childhood "without love".
As Eamon Gilmore, who is far better at asking rather than answering questions, wondered "why did ministers and senior officials turn a blind eye?" once again Mr Cowen came up short.
The Taoiseach's claim that all this had been caused by "a systems failure" which was being resolved via "a process of engagement" was technically correct but it left him looking like some bloodless corporate lawyer trying to reduce the sentence of sleazy, well-heeled clients.
The bad news for the country is that nothing justifies the Sketch's heroic "we're backing Biffo" stance more than the alternatives.
Think of our Finance Minister and his Nama plan. Then there's the Cromwellian figure of Noel Dempsey.
Sketch never thought we'd be comparing Mr Dempsey to Marie Antoinette but you could hardly blame us after the last of the Fianna Fail puritans told Fergus O'Dowd that when it came to CIE he did "not know what cutbacks the Deputy is talking about".
If Noel wants to find out how things are in CIE he should get a bus some day.
Sadly the arrival of Dermot 'blasphemy blasphemy they've all got it in for me' Ahern did not lift the mood.
In spite of the dreadful nature of these options (and that's before we get to Enda) our salad-eating, cycling and recycling Irish Times political vegetarians believe our beef-and-chips-loving Taoiseach is now infused with eau de roadkill.
But the Sketch believes Cowen's "quintessence of Offaly-man" status means that his problems are not his fault.
It is bad enough that outside of the GAA dressing room ,the perfume of Offaly man is not popular, but the greatest problem Mr Cowen faces is that Offaly people are too cool for their own good.
Like Seamus Darby's All-Ireland winning goal in 1982, they like to leave things late in case they appear to want the trophy too badly.
But last Friday's opinion poll showed just how much the times have changed.
Fifteen minutes might have been enough to win All-Irelands in the Eighties and do for Enda in 2007's election but it's a 70-minute gig now, and neither Mr Cowen nor his party appear to have the puff for the battle.
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- John Drennan
