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Brian Lenihan was Minister for Finance at the time of the recent and dramatic political and economic crisis in Ireland, and was the lynchpin in the rescue package sought by the Irish Government. The recollections within this powerful new book throw light on Lenihan s political career from its earliest days to his untimely death in 2011. The perceptive and timely contributions arise from those who were directly involved with him at all stages, and include those of high-profile public figures and political insiders from all sides of the Irish political spectrum. From the international stage Christine Lagarde offers her memories of the man and the crises and challenges they faced together. Brian Lenihan s achievements and how he achieved them are documented and discussed, such as his work as Minister of State for Children, giving a rare insight into his persona and principles throughout his life and career. An unflinching public servant and adept political animal, Lenihan was hugely tested in the wake of Ireland s economic crisis, yet his paramount desire was to work in the best interests of his country. The legacy of that ambition is debated in this unique collection which highlights his skills as a lawyer, academic and politician as well as describing Brian Lenihan the man through those who knew him on a more personal level.
On 28 November 2010, the Irish government infamously agreed to a bailout from the Troika to save Ireland’s failing economy. This decision had huge and long-lasting social implications for Ireland and her people, and led to the annihilation of Fianna Fáil and its allies in the 2011 general election. In 'Hell at the Gates', Brian Cowen, the late Brian Lenihan, Eamon Ryan, Micheál Martin, Mary Harney and many others, recount for the first time in their own words the inside story behind the actions of the most hated government in living memory. The result is a deeply honest, intensely personal and revelation-strewn account of their experiences in the white heat of an economic meltdown. It reveals the extent to which Cowen and Lenihan’s relationship disintegrated, how members of the government were physically attacked by the public and also gives the definitive account by Micheál Martin himself of why he chose in early 2011 to move against his embattled leader. As Mary O’Rourke said of those days, ‘There was drama, tragedy, pathos, comedy, farce, love and death. It was like a Shakespearean drama.’ John Lee and Daniel McConnell have interviewed the people who were at the coalface of this drama, to produce a gripping account of those fateful days in and around Leinster House.
From penalty points to water charges, funding cuts to tax hikes, The Great Betrayal is a cutting assessment of the upheavals, egos and scraps that shaped the 31st Dáil by Ireland's most sagacious political pundit-turned-political operatorAs the curtain falls on this government's term in office, it has fallen drastically out of favour, something that is hard to believe if we cast our minds back just a few years to 2011, when Fine Gael and Labour rode a wave of populist sentiment all the way to Dáil Eireann. No Irish government has ever enjoyed a larger majority – and none has ever so comprehensively squandered its mandate. How did the Coalition fall so far so fast?Written with the unique insight of one of the most original observers of Irish politics, The Great Betrayal provides an entertaining and enlightening narrative of a government that, in the eyes of many, betrayed the hopes of the Irish electorate for a democratic revolution, almost immediately after being elected with a thumping majority.The Great Betrayal is required reading for anyone wondering how it all went wrong and where we might go from here.
1929... On Wall Street, during the worst financial crisis the world had ever seen, the word "Banksters" was coined to describe those ruthless individuals who had gambled away the country's wealth. 2009... The phrase "Banksters" is resurrected as David Murphy and Martina Devlin describe the shocking story of how the Irish banking system was brought to its knees by a corrupt elite driven by profit and greed.Banksters examines the events which triggered the near collapse of Ireland's banking system, when it unfolded that a privileged 'golden circle', caught up in a frenzy of greed and opportunism, had gambled and lost with the deposits and pensions of the Irish people.It charts how an unprecedented orgy of over-borrowing - fuelled by bankers who threw out the rule book on lending and reckless tax breaks from cavalier politicians -caused a massively over-inflated property bubble. While bank shares climbed to dizzying heights, profits soared and executives earned enormous bonuses, those who cried 'stop!' were shouted down. But there was no promised 'soft landing' when, in September 2008, bankers overnight went from being pillars of society to pariahs. When the word 'Ireland' became synonymous with corruption in the global lending markets. When a generation learned it would pay a high price for the arrogance and greed of its business elite. Banksters is a hard-hitting read that, were it fiction, might not be believed. In describing the key players, their motivations, personalities and lavish lifestyles it poses the all-important questions: who is answerable - and will all the culprits be called to account?
In this memoir Mary O' Rourke writes, with remarkable candidness and humour, of personal and political events; of the many senior political figures with whom she worked, including Charles Haughey and Bertie Ahern; of her life with her beloved husband Enda; of her two dear Brians, both of whom died before their time; of her successes and disappointments. She does all this with honesty, energy and an absence of self-pity or self-justification. The book is like the woman herself: open, warm and frank.
This book examines a number of different interpretations and explanations in the context of historical change, as the Irish grappled with the questions of political independence, economic autonomy, the decline of provincialism, the rise of pluralism, and the unsolved conundrum of Irish nationhood.
Fianna Fáil was for most of the 20th century the democratic world’s most successful political party. It dominated the politics of Ireland from 1932, when it first took power, until 2011 when it became a prominent electoral victim of the Great Recession. This book provides original research that explains how Fianna Fáil became dominant and managed its coalitions of support to maintain that position for eight decades. It gathers prominent political scientists who focus on a variety of factors including its ideological flexibility, control of state resources and the venue for decision making, the party’s leadership, its organisation and communications strategies. In addition the book takes a comparative approach to understanding the position of dominant parties in democratic countries, and uses empirical data to understand the sources of its support and decline. It is a book that will be of interest not only to scholars of Ireland, but also to those who wish to understand the sources of power of dominant political parties and the impact of the Great Recession on democratic politics. This book was originally published as a special issue of Irish Political Studies.
What If? is an entertaining, thoughtful, provocative and original look at some of the milestones of twentieth century Irish history that offers a glimpse of what might have been. We all know that there was nothing inevitable about much of modern Ireland's history. Things could have turned out very differently, so it is natural to wonder what would have happened if certain events had never occurred or happened in a different way. What If? is the thought-provoking, enjoyable and insightful book that explores this conceit as its starting point, asking of key events in twentieth-century Ireland: 'what if?' Based on Diarmaid Ferriter's acclaimed RTÉ Radio One series, the book looks at twenty events in twentieth-century Ireland, each of which was discussed on Ferriter's show with two experts, and speculates on how things might have developed had circumstances been different. In doing so, Ferriter also sheds much new light on what actually did happen, how Ireland changed during the course of the twentieth century and the experiences of those who lived through it. The big questions are tackled: what if there had been no 1916 Rising? What if Ireland had been invaded during World War II? What if there had been no programmes for economic expansion? What if Mary Robinson had not been elected president in 1990? But the book also poses other, less obvious, questions: what if James Joyce and Samuel Beckett had stayed in Ireland; if Britain had blocked Irish immigration in the 1950s; if there had been no Late Late Show or Magill magazine; if Bishop Eamon Casey had never met Annie Murphy; or if John Charles McQuaid had never been Archbishop of Dublin? What If? Alternative Views of Twentieth-Century Ireland: Table of Contents Introduction - What if there had been no Late Late Show? - What if there had been no pro-life amendment referendum in 1983? - What if there had been no Magill magazine? - What if John Charles McQuaid had not been appointed Archbishop of Dublin in 1940? - What if Ben Dunne had not gone on a golfing trip to Florida in 1992? - What if Bishop Eamon Casey's secret had not been discovered? - What if there had been no 1916 Rising? - What if the Treaty ports had not been returned in 1938? - What if the Blueshirts had attempted a coup in 1933? - What if de Valera had stood down as leader of Fianna Fáil in 1948 instead of 1959? - What if Donogh O'Malley had not introduced free secondary education in 1967? - What if the Irish Press had not closed down in 1995? - What if James Joyce and Samuel Beckett had stayed in Ireland? - What if Frank Duff had not established the Legion of Mary in 1921? - What if the Jim Duffy tape had not been released during the 1990 presidential election? - What if Proportional Representation had been abolished in 1959 or 1968? - What if T. K. Whitaker had not been appointed Secretary of the Department of Finance in 1956? - What if the members of U2 had gone to different schools in the 1970s? - What if Britain had imposed restrictions on Irish immigration in the 1950s? - What if Noël Browne had not been involved in Irish politics?
At a time when global politics is being reshaped, the accountability of those we put in power has never been more vital. In Making Up the Numbers, Dan Boyle, former chairman of the Green Party, applies his first-hand experience of non-traditional politics in Ireland to assess the role of minor parties in government and in coalition. This book is an essential contribution to our understanding of the 'others' vote in Irish politics.
The Election of February 2011 will be remembered for the defeat and virtual annihilation of Fianna Fáil. Stripped of power in humiliating circumstances, the party was disgraced, possibly to the point of no return. The story of how this happened is a mixture of farce and tragedy. The collective leadership of the party lost touch with reality and watched, as though mesmerised, while Brian Cowen led them from one catastrophic mistake to another. He was aided in this by Brian Lenihan, Minister for Finance, whose mistakes were among the worst ever made by the holder of this crucial office. Fianna Fáil demolished itself in the eyes of the electorate due to its entanglement with property and banking scandals, inept decisions and gross mismanagement of the most profitable time ever enjoyed by the Irish people. Two journalists with inside knowledge of the events and extensive experience of politics over many years have joined their talents to write this gripping story.