Maybe it’s time to give Brian Cowen a break

Brian Cowen doesn’t do fancy footwork or play to the gallery. Maybe that’s why, despite positive economic signs and policy successes, the media make him a whipping boy

Isn’t it interesting how a media consensus can gather a head of steam and then become an almost incontrovertible ‘fact’?

This week, as the Dáil adjourned for almost 12 weeks, the papers were full of reports not only about how politicians had embarked on a very long summer holiday, but also about how unpopular Brian Cowen continues to be as Taoiseach.

The papers even featured reports of how grumpy he has become in ...