FF RALLY:WITH JUST over a week to election day, Taoiseach Brian Cowen launched one of his sharpest attacks on the Opposition since he took office, describing the Fine Gael and Labour leaders as "spinning Jennies" who would apparently be "happy" to see Ireland's international credit rating ruined.
Speaking at an election rally in Loughrea, Mr Cowen accused the Opposition of misrepresenting Ireland’s economic situation and warned: “Loose talk costs jobs.” Accusing Fine Gael and Labour of seeking to “capitalise on misery and fuel despair”, Mr Cowen said these parties had been “constructing a parallel universe that bears no resemblance to reality”.
He added: “Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore are the spinning Jennies. People are too smart to believe these simple bogeyman stories. The people know it takes more than guff and bluster.”
He continued: “The Opposition should stop trying to fool the people that it’s all down to Government. It does no justice to the size of the problem, and it suggests magic wand solutions that are frankly not possible.”
Keeping the focus on his opponents, he said: “Yes the Opposition’s job is to oppose, but that Opposition are taking it to new depths. In a global recession, they have too often put their own narrow political interests above the national interest.”
He continued: “Fine Gael and Labour are now both opposing the National Asset Management Agency [Nama] and would be happy to see us default on our bonds and ruin our credit ratings around the world, it would appear.
“Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore have opposed almost every constructive step we have taken to rescue this economy from the biggest international storm in living history. There are more tough but necessary decisions ahead to secure our financial and economic security. We will not flinch from making these decisions because they are in the best interests of the country in the long term.
“When the country needs co-operation, Fine Gael and Labour offer division, even among themselves. When Ireland needs stability most, they offer instability and when we need to look forward, they are like Lot’s wife, they just can’t help looking back.
“The cost of this negative brand of politics is high. The cost is the truth, it is the morale of the country, it is our international reputation. Loose talk costs jobs.
“I am fed up with them continuously trying to misrepresent our economic condition, because those attacks are not only heard by voters, they are also heard by investors in boardrooms abroad.”
Noting that the Economic and Social Research (ESRI) had predicted, that as the world economy recovered momentum, the Irish economy could grow, as long as it regained competitiveness, Mr Cowen continued: “These may only be green shoots, and not all may wish to see them, but they will grow with nurturing and are grounds for optimism.”
Referring to the report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, he said it was “one of the most important documents of our time” and added: “I am appalled by what I have read and horrified by what the victims had to endure.
“It is my Government’s unshakeable view that, in the light of the report’s findings, there is a moral obligation on the congregations to contribute more by way of reparation for the support of victims and other education and welfare purposes.
“The Government will convey these views directly to the congregations when I meet them as soon as practicable, hopefully next week,” Mr Cowen added.
