Taoiseach tells the truth

What should have been said by the Taoiseach

Address by An Taoiseach and Uachtarán Fianna Fáil to the 72nd Ard-Fheis: Part 1

This is a transcript of Brian Cowen's original speech to the Ard Fheis. It is not the speech that was delivered, as greater men than Cowen thought honesty was not in their interests.

Nothing changes!

Related Links:
The text of the speech that was actually delivered by Mr Cowen.
Fianna Fail Ard Fheis coverage on IrishElection.com.
"This is not Normal" article from Cedar Lounge Revolution.

"Good evening delegates, and to all of you watching and listening at home.

I realise tonight as I talk to you that many of you here in this hall and around the country have worries for yourselves, your families and your future. I have no such worries because I am one of the highest paid politicians in the world in spite of the fact that I am head of a very small country with a comparatively small GDP.

We are living in uncertain times and people are concerned about their jobs, their businesses and their homes. I do not share these concerns because my job is locked in. I am the son of Bertie, in political terms.

Right across the globe there are people in the same situation. Their situation is not as bad as yours but if I pretend it is often enough you might believe me.

The world has changed. And Ireland has changed more because we, your government, allowed it to happen.

We are in a new era, never faced by anybody of our generation before. This is the worst financial crisis to hit the world since 1929.

The choices we make now as a society will have a profound effect on our country, and generations of Irish people to come. Regardless of the choices we take, the average Irish person, her children and grandchildren will pay for our actions. The people who got us into this mess, us, your Government, our developer friends, and the Bankers will be okay.

How did we get here? How, you may ask. I will tell you. We got here by deregulation, the squandering of your taxes, the gross over-payment of senior politicians and senior civil servants and by recklessly promoting a property bubble to boost our finances.

Recessions are tough. They hurt people. They create anxiety. They say that the pain of losing something is greater than the joy of gaining it. This applies to you more than me, so grin and bear it. I have gained a lot more than I can lose.

So here in Ireland, where we have just seen the greatest period of growth in our history, this recession is hurting badly. This is because the growth was based on the property bubble I mentioned earlier. At our last Ard Fheis 2 years ago, we were all looking at a future full of hope. This is because we could not see the wood from the trees. You trusted us to run the country and we failed. Now that hope has been overshadowed by doubt. By doubt I mean fear and poverty. I first entered Dail Eireann 25 years ago. In that time, I have been privileged to witness the transformation of our country. I have seen us achieve full employment, become a modern and confident Republic, and resolve the conflict in the North. We have all seen great days together. I have seen better days as my salary has sky rocketed and I got away with outsourcing the business of governing this country to committees and consultants. They do the work, I make the call and we all get highly paid.

Now as Taoiseach, I am tasked with guiding this nation through one of the biggest challenges of her history. It is the greatest honour of my life to lead this Republic, but like you, I wish these were better days. I also wish that Bertie had not been clever enough to see what was coming and hang me with it. I wish.

But this is the situation we are in. And it is my job now to work with all of you to make things better, for all of us. And for our country. Take comfort in the fact that I accept no responsibility and will continue to blame the global recession, even though decisions were made by people and they should be held accountable.

I am confident that with your help, we can survive this situation and return Ireland to growth and to better times. We have done this before, and we can do it again. If we cannot, my pension is incredibly high and 100% guaranteed so I will be okay.

There are two key challenges facing us now.

First, how do we cope with the short term crisis we are in? And how long will it take you to realize it is not a short term crisis?

And the second is how do we plan for the best possible future for our country? Will the Irish people realize that the best possible future will be one without us?

The Government and I are determined to get this country back on track. This in spite of the fact that the Minister of Finance has no Finance training, and the government is not elected based on capacity to do the job."

"... and that's the truth, says I to you."