BRIAN COWEN said yesterday he was not a reluctant Taoiseach and that he “absolutely enjoyed the job”.
Mr Cowen, who is two years in the job today, was asked what would he say to those who said he really did not want the job and was a reluctant Taoiseach.
“I cannot deal with the type of stereotype people want to portray. I am in this job for one reason and one reason only, to lead the Government into making the decisions which have to be made,” he said.
Asked if he enjoyed the job, the Taoiseach replied: “Absolutely. It is a very dutiful and important job which can only be done with the support of colleagues and I am very grateful to them.”
When he was asked if he would like to see more support in the opinion polls, Mr Cowen said he would always be looking at that but the Government had two more years to run and there was a growing realisation about what had to be done.
He said the decisions which had to be taken were not immediately popular but there was a recognition now that unless those steps were taken the country faced very, very serious issues.
“As we see a turn in the economy and growth being regarded as coming back . . . people are seeing decisions were not only necessary, they had to be taken,” he said.
Those steps would have to continue to be taken on the road to recovery on which we had embarked, he said.
Mr Cowen, who was in Farmleigh House in Dublin at the Bord Bia summit on the future of the food and drinks industry, said the tough decisions that had been taken were being recognised abroad.
“These will continue because we want it to be seen everywhere Ireland is taking charge of its own identity,” he said.
The Taoiseach, who turned 50 on January 10th, took office on May 7th 2008, when Bertie Ahern resigned. In 2000 he became minister for foreign affairs, a post he held for four years. He was deeply involved in the peace process negotiations. He became minister for finance in 2004, a post he held until he became Taoiseach.
He served as tánaiste from 2007 to 2008.