PRESS CONFERENCE:FIANNA FÁIL will confront economic, social and political challenges as "a united and disciplined party" focused on the common good, the party's leader designate, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Brian Cowen, told a news conference in Dublin yesterday.
Mr Cowen, who was greeted with cheers and a standing ovation from relatives, parliamentary party colleagues and Laois-Offaly constituency activists, responded at some length to questions on the economy, the health services, Northern Ireland, the Lisbon Treaty and the potential for media intrusion into his private life.
Asked if there would be any "change of style" in relation to Northern Ireland, he stressed continuity as well as the need for a "change of mindset" from both nationalists and unionists.
"The policy that we have helped devise and implement will obviously continue to be our policy for the future. It is based on the principles of consent and mutual respect and equality, and, importantly, on an occasion such as this as I take up the leadership of the party, it is about a genuine mutual respect for the different traditions on this island.
"The revolutionary concept that is part of the Good Friday agreement really, as I said last night on another occasion, is about embarking on a common journey without insisting upon the ultimate destination.
"That is the change of mindset that modern nationalism and modern unionism have to provide for the people of this country, North and South. We are very willing partners in that enterprise.
"I have been closely involved, in my various responsibilities, in respect of how that process is developed. I am deeply committed to it and I look forward to working with everybody in Northern Ireland, in the Executive, in the Assembly, and those with responsibility in the British government, to make a reality of the hope that is part of the process that we are now engaged in."
Asked about Fianna Fáil's electoral intentions in the North, he replied: "Regarding our politics and how Fianna Fáil will organise in the future, we have not come to any detailed conclusions on that matter.
"There is a consultation process that is being undertaken with all units of our organisation. But regardless of the outcome of those ideas and how we might proceed, we want to work hand in hand with everyone on the island so that the logic of the island economy becomes a reality for everyone."
Asked if the slow build-up to the Lisbon Treaty referendum might jeopardise prospects for a Yes vote, he replied:
"No. It's important to say that we are already beginning, or revving up, our campaign slowly. Obviously we'll be officially launching our campaign shortly. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for European Affairs are very active in that regard. This treaty is very important for Ireland. I will be speaking in the House this week, outlining its importance as I see it.
"The EU is critical to the future economic, social, political wellbeing of this country. Consistently, the Irish people have shown their support for the union and for the project. I admit that in the first Nice referendum we had a problem but it was about the fact that so few turned out. I believe there will be a higher turnout, certainly since then, and I believe that people will be supportive."
Asked what impact his accession to the party leadership and the office of taoiseach would have on his personal and family life, Mr Cowen said: "I am, of course, in taking this position, fully aware that I am accountable publicly to the electorate, to the citizens of this country, for any decisions I make on their behalf.
"There is, as I have said last week, a private life and a family side to my life that I wish to see respected and I believe the standards of Irish journalism are such that that will not prove a problem, as both of us set out to do our job in as conscientious a way as we can."
Asked what his message was to the people of his native county who were present in large numbers to greet the first Fianna Fáil leader and taoiseach to come from Offaly, he replied: "I hope that they will continue to keep my feet on the ground, to support me.
"I'm very aware of the great amount of goodwill from all sides that there is, not only in that part of the country, but I'm glad to say in many parts of the country.
"At the end of the day, they know me, I know them, and I will do my very best, but they will also know that in taking up this job my responsibilities are national, to all the people of Ireland, and I will continue to represent them to the best of my ability in that context."
Asked if he had faith in the Health Service Executive (HSE) and its chief executive Brendan Drumm, and if he thought the Minister for Health and Children was doing a good job, he made no direct comment on Prof Drumm but stated that "Mary Harney has shown her determination to proceed with [the Government's] programme of reform and she does so on behalf of Government and in compliance with Government policy."
On the HSE itself, he said: "Many of the critics of the organisation that we have set up as part of our reform are in fact using their criticism as a ruse to maintain and defend the status quo. The one thing we do know about health policy is that the status quo is not sustainable in the long term.
"The HSE, which is a bringing-together of something like 56 previous agencies - and we have heard a lot from the Opposition about the need to reduce the number of agencies - is an attempt to bring together all of that activity. It is a project which is clearly complex, requires the full co-operation of all interests, all professional and other interests who work in the health service."
He continued: "Any objective analysis of the situation would confirm that, if it were simply resources that were the issue in the health service, it would be solved by now. So my view, to answer your question, yes I believe that the policies we are pursuing are the right policies.
"We need to sustain public confidence in the implementation of those policies. The purpose of those policies is not change for change's sake but, as we've seen in recent times, the need to overcome the tendency to compromise patient safety on the basis of parochial argument."
Asked what was the biggest challenge facing his party at a time when unemployment had risen, housing sales were decreasing and Exchequer revenues were falling, the Tánaiste said:
"The perspective we have today . . . is obviously looking very much to the future in the context of an era of leadership that is about to begin, coming as it is on the back of one of the most successful leadership tenures this country and this party has ever experienced, through the leadership of Bertie Ahern.
"And the point that we would make today is, whatever the challenges - and there will always be challenges in democratic life - we will confront those challenges as a united and disciplined party, as a party that is focused on the common good and the betterment of all."
He continued: "When we took office, unemployment was at 12 per cent. We have practically eliminated long-term unemployment. We have created hundreds of thousands of jobs."
He added: "So, this country is not immune from the international trend of the last six to eight months but the fundamentals of this economy are strong and I believe we are better-equipped than ever before to withstand the difficulties of, clearly, a less-benign international economic environment than before."
Among a large number of supporters at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in Kildare Street were Mary Cowen, wife of the Tánaiste, and their daughter Sinéad; his brothers Christopher and Barry; Cabinet Ministers Noel Dempsey, Éamon Ó Cuív, Mary Coughlan and Séamus Brennan, Ministers of State Brendan Smith, Seán Haughey and Batt O'Keeffe, TDs Martin Mansergh and Timmy Dooley; Senators Donie Cassidy, Geraldine Feeney and Martin Brady and MEPs Eoin Ryan, Liam Aylward and Seán Ó Neachtain.
