TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen invited Fianna Fáil TDs and Senators who had a problem with his leadership to speak privately with him in the next 24 to 48 hours at yesterday’s parliamentary party meeting.
A number of deputies complained to Mr Cowen that contacts he had in 2008 with then Anglo Irish Bank directors Seán FitzPatrick and Gary McGann were disclosed only recently.
Former minister of state Seán Power (Kildare South) was the harshest critic of Mr Cowen. He accused the Taoiseach of “sleep-walking” through his job and told the meeting the issue of his leadership should be addressed immediately, sources said.
Former chief whip Tom Kitt (Dublin South) said it was open to Mr Cowen to put down a motion of confidence in himself.
This followed Mr Cowen telling the meeting there were procedures within the party if members wanted to select a new leader.
Chief Whip John Curran said Mr Cowen acknowledged there had been a lot of speculation recently about his leadership.
“The Taoiseach is very much of the view that the vast majority of members of the party are supportive of him,” Mr Curran said.
He added that Mr Cowen acknowledged as a “distraction” speculation about his continued leadership.
“He encouraged and invited members who might have issues that they might want to discuss with him in private on a one-to-one basis that they should feel free to go and do so over the next day or so.”
Mr Curran also confirmed that a number of TDs commented on the recent revelations about Mr Cowen’s contacts with Anglo directors.
“They did acknowledge that it was unfortunate and obviously the media attention is not helpful to us,” he said.
Carlow-Kilkenny TD John McGuinness said he referred to the “damaging perception” the revelations had created, saying “we are now inextricably linked to Anglo and Seánie FitzPatrick through Brian Cowen”.
Mr McGuinness also asked others who were interested in the leadership to consult with TDs and Senators over the weekend. “Don’t whisper in corridors,” he said.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin and Minister for Tourism Mary Hanafin attended but did not speak. Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan was also there, and spoke only about the Finance Bill, due for publication on January 20th.
Thomas Byrne (Meath East) said matters around the leadership had to be clarified but “didn’t adopt a position on one side or the other”, one backbencher said. Chris Andrews (Dublin South-East) had queries about the procedure proposed by Mr Cowen, and asked how deputies would contact him.
Noel O’Flynn (Cork North-Central) said he asked Mr Cowen if any Cabinet members had contacted him in the last few days in relation to his position; Mr Cowen said they had not. Other sources interpreted Mr Cowen’s answer differently, however.
Mr Cowen “seemed a little bit nervous” at the beginning of the meeting, one backbencher said.
“He was well into his speech and people were scratching their heads. It was impossible to say was he staying or was he going.
“He went on to say that in terms of leadership he had given more opportunities than others to give people chances to bring the issue up in an unstructured way.
“Now it was emerging again at this critical juncture and it couldn’t go on. He was going to consult with people; people could come to him,” he said.
The backbencher said Mr Cowen stressed he felt no ill will towards anyone in the party and was approaching the issue as a professional politician.
Another deputy said: “He’s a man that knows he’s gone. I would feel his body language is not exactly oozing confidence.”
Fianna Fáil’s Coalition partners the Green Party came in for heavy criticism at the meeting. Concerns about the recently published Climate Change Bill were raised by Mr O’Flynn and others.
A special briefing for those concerned about agricultural matters was scheduled for next week.
