Madam, – Perhaps your next survey could establish what percentage of the adult population has attended a noisy party, had a few drinks and lots of chat, stayed up until 3am, and been hoarse and tired the following morning? My guess is about 80 per cent, including the Fine Gael parliamentary party and certainly including journalists, here and elsewhere.
In her as always excellent report, Miriam Lord says that from what she saw, the Taoiseach was having “a few slow pints”, and no, he did not look drunk.
He couldn’t have been, not if he sang the six long verses of The Lakes of Pontchartrain, and sang it passionately.
I can’t help wondering if there is one member of the Fine Gael parliamentary party who even knows of The Lakes of Pontchartrain? –
MARY MAHER,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.
Madam, – Now that we know the Taoiseach can apologise, as he has done, for his infamous, though utterly inconsequential on the grand scale of things, radio interview, I wonder what odds I might get on an apology for his disastrous performance as minister for finance, and even worse performance as Taoiseach in handling the financial crisis?
How about a resignation and a reduction in pension to that of a non-contributory old age pensioner, payable at age 65? Now that would be an apology worth waiting for. – Yours, etc,
SEAN O KIERSEY,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Madam, – I am affiliated with no political parties. However, I believe in fair play and justice. I have listened to the interview several times and am at a loss to understand what is wrong with it. I can find nothing in the interview that warrants the use of such words as embarrassing, disrespectful, inept, semi-coherent and hungover. I find it hard to believe that any objective person can listen to this interview and make such disparaging remarks.
During Tuesday and Wednesday I did not hear, or read of, any explanations that justified in detail how such words were an accurate description of the interview. All I heard and read were general, unsubstantiated and unwarranted comments. In my opinion, anyone who would state that “the interview speaks for itself” is being unfair, unjust and incorrect.
Facts and details are normally more accurate than comments. In fact, I felt that Brian Cowen gave a very good interview and dealt with the various matters quite professionally. He may have had a cold or a nasal problem. So what?
I think it is sad that a decent politician should be treated in this manner and the entire incident tells me more about large sections of the Irish media, many politicians, and much of the general public, than about Brian Cowen.
Finally, while the media continue to focus on sideshow items such as this, many genuine news stories remain unresearched and untold. – Yours, etc,
JARLATH BROPHY,
Lifford,
Co Donegal.
Madam, – The real story of Brian Cowen’s now infamous interview is not the interview itself. It is the disgraceful “shoot the messenger” spin tactics of almost all members of Fianna Fáil.
According to Fianna Fáil, it is Simon Coveney’s fault, RTÉ’s fault, CNN’s fault, the BBC’s fault, Twitter’s fault, Facebook’s fault, and the fault of all those who heard the interview live and mentioned it to their friends and work colleagues, but definitely not Brian Cowen’s fault. – Yours, etc,
TOM NEVILLE,
Leopardstown,
Dublin 18.