By TOM ROWE [Le Monde Diplomatique] – Keeping up with events in Ireland is now a full time job. One afternoon towards the end of November, there were multiple happenings. The government was rapidly imploding, with Green Party coalition partners and independent supporters calling for an election. Protesters, including a Sinn Fein member of parliament, fought police, almost breaching the security of the Dáil (parliament). The shape of IMF/ECB/European Commission rescue became visible; it would be a lifeline to save Ireland from sinking financially into the mess the country had created, dragging the euro down with it. Later that day, the Taoiseach (prime minister) Brian Cowen, flanked by his stony-faced cabinet, said he would continue to govern at least until the EU/IMF-endorsed austerity budget is passed on 7 December.

That hastily convened press conference had prompted speculation that Cowen would stand down. He is staying, but he may not be given the chance to continue even until the budget, with party members most likely now to abandon the sinking Fianna Fáil (FF) ship that Cowen has steered into such murky waters.  As finance minister for four years, and Taoiseach for more than two, Cowen is uniquely responsible for Irish problems. With his government afloat on tax receipts from a construction bubble, Cowen did not restrain property developers or regulate the banks. He and the current finance minister, Brian Lenihan, then decided to guarantee those over-extended banks one night in 2008, without full knowledge of the debt they were undertaking, making the billions in loans made by bankers the responsibility of the Irish people. To say that he is unpopular is an understatement. Yet he continues in power.

Continued at Le Monde Diplomatique | More Chronicle & Notices.