MINISTERS YESTERDAY said there was no appetite for a change of leadership in the party, while backbencher Seán Power claimed Taoiseach Brian Cowen was “haunted” by his period as minister for finance.
Minister for Tourism Mary Hanafin moved to play down Mr Power’s criticism of Mr Cowen’s leadership at the Fianna Fáil party meeting on Tuesday night.
“There was not a group of people lined up behind him [Mr Power]. People who might have been outspoken in the past did not speak out against the Taoiseach,” Ms Hanafin said.
“In fact, they did the exact opposite. They said this is the time to stick together, this is the time to give leadership and this is the time to enable people to work on the budget and not be distracted by it.”
Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív said it was time to move away from “personality politics” and concentrate on the serious problems facing the State.
Mr Ó Cuív said people were entitled to their opinion, but Mr Cowen had the support of the overwhelming number of people in the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.
Asked if there was an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the leadership within the party, he said that was not the case and the majority believed Mr Cowen was the right person to lead Fianna Fáil.
Mr Power reiterated his criticism yesterday, saying Mr Cowen should have known more about the situation in the banks ahead of the banking crisis given his previous experience as minister for finance.
“He should have known a lot more than he did know, having occupied the post of minister for finance in the period up to this,” Mr Power said.
“I believe myself that he’s haunted by his period as minister for finance.
“In a very short period of days, of a few hours, we had to make this monumental decision that’s mortgaged the country, this generation and future generations. A decision was made to provide a guarantee for the banks. It was an enormous decision to make, and we made it with very little knowledge. We should have been in a position to know an awful lot more about the banks than we did.”
Mr Power said he had not had any “negative feedback” from colleagues.
Meanwhile, he said a promised special meeting to discuss the leadership had not yet happened, and he saw no evidence that it would happen. “While it was promised I haven’t seen any evidence of it happening.”
Two weeks ago Fianna Fáil confirmed it would discuss its communications strategy within weeks at a special party meeting, at which Mr Cowen’s leadership of the party would also be discussed. This followed former chief whip Tom Kitt’s call for the party to discuss the leadership. He said Mr Cowen was not communicating with or connecting properly with the electorate and should step down.
