Brian Cowen still feeling hard done by as biography seeks to set record straight on banks, bailout and beers

Five things we learned about Brian Cowen from new book about himThe new book does not shirk from criticism of Brian Cowen, though it tells much of the story from his perspective. Photograph: Eric Luke The publication of Prof Gary Murphy’s Brian Cowen: Anatomy of a Taoiseach brings forward the perspectives and recollections of the former taoiseach of a tumultuous period which changed Irish politics.Murphy’s book is a different type of undertaking to his massive biography of Charles Haughey, for which he had access to all of Haughey’s extensive papers and interviewed many of those who had worked with and against the former taoiseach.For this book, Murphy relied on an extensive series of interviews with Cowen and while it does not shirk from criticism of the politician, it tells much of the story from his perspective. Cowen invited Murphy to his home because he had read his Haughey biography and thought it “fair, thorough and revealing” - perhaps he hoped for the same himself. Anyway, the project grew from there.A TD at 24, Cowen was in the Cabinet aged 31 and held the posts of minister for labour, minister for transport, energy and communications, minister for health, minister for foreign affairs, and minister for finance before becoming taoiseach when Bertie Ahern retired in May 2008. READ MOREHis period as taoiseach was completely dominated by the financial crisis that was already beginning to engulf the world by the time he occupied the State’s highest political office. In the top job for little more than 1,000 days, he oversaw the disastrous bank guarantee, a period of grinding austerity in the public finances, a surge in unemployment, poverty and emigration and finally the descent into the bailout of 2010, when the country accepted loans from the EU/IMF/ECB “troika” in return for agreeing to a series of harsh tax measures, reforms and spending cuts. Cowen retired at the 2011 general election, when Fianna Fáil was almost – but not quite – electorally extinct. Here is some of what the book reveals about the former taoiseach and the events in which he played a leading role:1. He is self-critical, but not too muchCowen never attempts to shirk responsibility for any of the decisions he made as taoiseach and is keenly aware of the difficulties they brought to many people. However, there seems little awareness about how his failures as minister for finance between 2004-2008 contributed to the fact that the global financial crisis was so much worse in Ireland than nearly everywhere else. These failures spanned not just oversight of the banks, but also the great inflation in public spending on the back of temporary and unreliable tax revenues. Cowen’s account is that he was doing what people wanted as minister for finance. Then-taoiseach Brian Cowen and minister for finance Brian Lenihan. Photograph: Eric Luke On the fatal State guarantee he extended to Irish banks in 2008, Cowen bemoans the incorrect information he was given by the banks. In fairness, by the time he got to 3am in the department of the taoiseach with bankers saying they won’t be able to open their doors in the morning, some sort of dramatic State action was necessary. Cowen’s great failure, both as taoiseach and minister for finance, was in allowing things to get to that point. 2. He didn’t always hate the PDsThere are many nuggets of political interest in the book. One is this: in Fianna Fáil lore, Cowen is remembered for his famous dismissal of the Progressive Democrats (PDs), when he bellowed at an ardfheis – while Fianna Fáil was in coalition with them – “When in doubt, leave them out!” In fact, the book reveals that Cowen had favoured coalition with PDs in 1989, when Fianna Fáil was torn over the question, going so far as to approach Charles Haughey and urge him to enter government with Des O’Malley. At the time, Fianna Fáil had never been in coalition and considered single party government a “core value”. He subsequently went on to be an opponent of both Haughey and the PDs.3. His political touch deserted him as taoiseachCowen had proved a deft and able politicians as a minister, manoeuvring himself into a position where he was the darling of the party and the recognised successor to Ahern. When the time came for Ahern, beset by tribunal troubles in 2008, to go, Cowen was ready. He insists that he did not push Ahern out, but it is clear from the account that he was standing by the door holding his coat. “I could not think of a better time for Bertie to step down,” he recalls.'I could not think of a better time for Bertie to step down,' Cowen recalls. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons As taoiseach, however, Cowen was quickly overwhelmed and his political touch deserted him. His relationship with his finance minister Brian Lenihan deteriorated into mutual mistrust. The final straw came when he attempted a disastrous reshuffle of his Cabinet in January 2011. By that stage, Cowen was living in a parallel political universe.4. He feels hard done by Though philosophical about accepting the judgment of history, Cowen feels hard done by the conventional wisdom on some aspects of the boom and bust. He rejects the idea that he was too close to the bankers he bailed out (chief facilitator of the book was Fintan Drury, an old friend of Cowen’s who was also a director of Anglo Irish Bank) and insists that everything he did was an honest attempt to do the best thing for the country. Of course, both of these things can be true. He also remains wounded by the charge of “economic treason” wielded to great political effect by the Labour leader Eamon Gilmore in 2010.5. The drinking questionStories about Cowen’s drinking had circulated around politics for years. They burst on to the public stage when he sounded hoarse and hungover in a Morning Ireland interview after a late night at the Ardilaun Hotel in Galway in September 2010 – just as the country was sliding towards the bailout. [ Brian Cowen and The Crash: a new look at the handling and political cost of the Celtic Tiger collapseOpens in new window ]The episode is recounted in detail in the book, including Cowen’s recollection that he had a gin and tonic before dinner and three pints afterwards. He stopped drinking at midnight, he told Murphy, though he acknowledges that he remained in hotel bar for a further three and a half hours.Cowen insists that he was not a heavy drinker and that his drinking never impacted his performance as a TD, minister or taoiseach. Others, Murphy concedes, have a different view. Readers can make up their own minds. Of course, many of them already have.IN THIS SECTION