Sadly we have become a figure of fun internationally. Irish jokes are once again popular because the Irish people have been turned into a joke by those we entrusted to represent us with dignity, honour and competence.
Brian Cowen’s recent troubles with his penchant for alcohol reflect badly on us all because he is the public face of our nation. When he is called a drunken moron on America’s most popular TV show we are all by association being called drunken morons. This happened last week on The Jay Leno show where an unflattering picture of Brian Cowen at a party was broadcast in a quiz asking the audience if this man was a bartender, politician or comedian. He was identified as the Prime Minister of Ireland with the comment of him being a drunken moron. Nice one Brian. One hundred years of trying to overcome a stereotype destroyed through your lack of personal discipline.
On Friday the Daily Telegraph reported that Brian Lenihan was heckled and subjected to a barrage of abuse from international investors during a teleconference. Sounds mimicking a chimpanzee were alleged to have been made along with other offensive remarks. This was a serious insult to a senior minister of the state and by association to each and every one of us. Those insults may be unfair but they expose the low esteem we are held in internationally. We are being held up to ridicule at the highest level.
Almost daily we hear statements of outstanding stupidity from Mary Coughlan. Never in the history of Irish political life has one person so obviously been elected and promoted above her level of mediocre competence. Her gaffes are legendary but her abilities are certainly not legendary. This makes me question why it was regarded as being of such importance that she attend a conference in St Louis Missouri. According to both Fianna Fáil and Ruairi Quinn her attendance at the conference was essential because now more than ever we need to sell Ireland internationally and to create jobs. Why? She was clearly unable to fulfil this function when it was her responsibility as the Minister for Enterprise. Why do we expect her now to suddenly perform her duties? It would be funny if it were not so serious.
Surely we should send someone who has sales ability, commercial competence and experience with an international gravitas. Someone who would be taken seriously at a high level. I would not employ Mary Coughlan to sell burgers in a chip van. She has no achievements to her name because in her entire political life she has done nothing of any importance. She is a proven incompetent. That we send buffoons such as her to represent us is the reason we have become an international joke.
The reality is that our economic reputation is in tatters. We have the weakest economy in the western world. Our banking system is a joke. Our per capita indebtedness is the highest in the developed world. We need people who command respect, people of gravitas with a track record of achievement to become the public international face of Irish recovery. Instead we have what are regarded as a drunken moron and an economic chimpanzee supported by the intellectual rigours of Mary Coughlan. That is the real joke.
What is done is done. We can do nothing about the past but we can address the future. Our ability to respond to this crisis is the basis of how we are being viewed internationally. We need leaders that command our respect. Only then can we expect the international community to respect us.
We cannot allow people such as Brian Cowen, Mary Coughlan and their colleagues to sully our reputation any further. In politics as in life perception is everything. How our representatives are perceived reflects how each one of us is perceived.
We are fighting the greatest battle in our history and our most senior officer is regarded as a drunken moron. His colleagues are proven incompetents. Some are absolute imbeciles. Our officer corps must be deposed because we the foot soldiers are the ones who will die in this war because of their folly. They will hide with their snouts in the trough like they always do. We are the ones in the trenches. We urgently need leaders!
