TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen has described the past 12 months as the most difficult of his political life but has insisted that the economic situation has been stabilised as a result of the measures his Government has taken.
In a briefing for political journalists, Mr Cowen said the Government would face into the challenges of the coming year with the same sense of determination and build on its achievements.
Asked how the past year had been for him personally, Mr Cowen said: “It was a tough year but it was tougher for others. For people who lost their jobs it was a very tough year and for families facing into great difficulties.
“For me personally, it was the most difficult year I faced in my political lifetime, in terms of the scale of the problems and the magnitude of the challenges. But I have been lucky to have had good colleagues who were equally determined to put the country first. This wasn’t about politics this year. The country’s future was at stake.”
Mr Cowen said the important thing coming to the end of the year was that there was now a degree of stability, and confidence could be built on that basis.
“I think that everybody is finally beginning to come to terms with what was a very difficult time for a lot of people. We have to get on with it, respond now and show the determination and the capacity to take the decisions.”
He said many people were taking bets in September that the Government would not last until Christmas and jump all the fences that it faced.
“What I was concentrating on was to try and stabilise the position politically, to stabilise it economically and to make sure we keep social cohesion in the country,” he said.
“I don’t do grandstanding. I try and look at these things logically and rationally and look at all the options.” He added that he has listened to his parliamentary party at all levels and consulted with his Green coalition partners. “You can listen to all the economic advice but the trick for a politician is that it has to be politically viable. You have to have support in the House for it.” Mr Cowen said there was now a recognition in the country about what had to be done. “This is going to be a hard slog but we can do it,” he added.
Responding to criticism of his response in the Dáil to a question about the failure of the Vatican to co-operate with the Murphy commission, Mr Cowen said he had been asked a specific question about certain correspondence and he had read out a note from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
He said that on the wider issue of the Murphy report the response of the Government had been given by the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, and the Minister for Children, Barry Andrews, on the day the report came out.
“There was absolutely no ambiguity on my part as a parent or a citizen, let alone as a Taoiseach. As Taoiseach I was very anxious to ensure there was a separation of church and State. I don’t want to get involved in the business of who should be a bishop no more than they should be involved in the business of deciding who should be my Minister.
“You can’t draw from that that I was ambiguous in any way about the substance of the report. To the contrary I was appalled by it and am appalled by it. And I would have great sympathy for the people who were victims and who suffered.”
Mr Cowen said there should be no doubt about the view of the Government on the content of the report. “People decided that the response to a specific question that was raised as a supplementary was my total position. That was not correct. I was simply replying to a specific issue. Now instead of reading out the note maybe I should have said it myself in my own way,” he added.