Sam Smyth: A reluctant leader who risks becoming our 'Berlusconi' -- minus girls
Brian Cowen's day fell apart after suspicions that his articulation problems arose from late-night pints rather than early morning sinuses on his adenoidal interview on 'Morning Ireland'.
It dipped further when listeners feared his slurring suggested he had suffered a mild stroke and international news agencies ran with 'Was The Taoiseach Drunk?' stories.
But his pals in the Bar Lobby piled in with unconditional support and, by early evening, Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney -- his most censorious critic -- was reeling from the backlash.
Not many outside of the clubby confines of Leinster House know about the Bar Lobby, which if it is nothing else is a useful working model of male bonding.
The Taoiseach is its most senior and most popular member although the others swear their common purpose has much more to do with having fun than peddling influence.
It is called the Bar Lobby because they meet in the Members' Bar in Leinster House and other pubs in Dublin, or sporting events.
It is not exclusively a Fianna Fail phenomenon -- there are several Fine Gael members -- and the Bar Lobby's greatest achievement is a syndicate that has owned three successful racehorses. It was running when Cowen was elected to the Dail in 1984 and it is still offers collegiality and friendship for TDs and senators.
After yesterday's story hit the international media, his perceived lifestyle could cast him as a sort of Brian Berlusconi -- minus the women and the whiff of corruption.
Cowen is very much a man's man -- the ideal drinking companion: formidable intelligence, a gifted mimic and talented storyteller who values loyalty above other qualities.
He was rattled by a story in a Sunday newspaper that reported him to be looking "hangdog" going for a meal in a hotel opposite his office and on Monday evening decided to show his other self. Apparently he gave a virtuoso performance of jokes, mimicry and storytelling in the Galway hotel and stayed up far too late for anyone facing a full-on 'Morning Ireland' interview.
Cowen does enjoy a drink and a cigarette and that puts him in the crosshairs of those who would want the lifestyle of a government leader to be a model for children. Others believe it is unbecoming for a Taoiseach to drink or smoke in public, or to tell jokes and laugh too heartily.
Cowen and his family believe it would be hypocritical for them to pretend to be something they are not -- but yesterday's interview will almost certainly curtail his socialising.
He stopped drinking in the early summer and resumed drinking pints socially on his holidays -- and his people insist that he did not overindulge on Monday night.
Scrutiny
He has also been more circumspect about drinking in public in recent months after close scrutiny of his 'pub life' by the media.
Rumour and gossip about his drinking habits has dogged him since being elected Taoiseach -- he was asked if he drank too much on the 'Late Late Show'.
In another interview in a Sunday newspaper he had to deny drinking to excess although he did admit to other health problems including sleep aponea.
Friends say he never really wanted to be Taoiseach and that he resents the constant scrutiny of his personal habits. When the public give their verdict at the polls it should allow Cowen to seek another less public job -- and more privacy for his personal pursuits.
- Sam Smyth
Irish Independent
