Taoiseach says he"s here for the long haul

A steadfast Taoiseach fortrightly rejected suggestions that his tenure as leader of the country was in jeopardy. Speaking to the Westmeath Independent during a visit to Athlone last week, the Taoiseach replied that there had been an election, and 'Enda had a shot at it', but was unsuccessful. Asked if he was determined to remain as Taoiseach, he simply answered: 'Absolutely'. Mr Cowen also said he was very heartened by the health of the organisation throughout the country, as local elections neared. 'The party is in good health ... people on the doorsteps are voicing concerns, but that"s only to be expected.' He said the party"s 800 candidates nationwide would be standing on their record of action on local issues. 'Our outgoing councillors from our point of view have done a very good job,' he insisted. A buoyant Taoiseach also said the local elections allowed the party the opportunity to get out on the doorsteps and put its case to the electorate, without it being subject to negative spin from the opposition. Pressed as to whether the electorate would take the opportunity to express a view on the performance of national Government, Mr Cowen admitted there could be some element of that. Short-term political popularity should not obviate the the need of a Government to do the right thing, he said. 'I"m prepared to make whatever decisions are required to get us through this,' he said, stating that it was necessary to put the economy on a footing to capitalise when the global economy picks up. 'I wouldn"t be doing this if I didn"t think it was necessary,' he insisted. He said the lessons of 20 years ago had shown the lesson of delaying the right economic decisions. The Taoiseach described the banking crisis as 'the biggest financial challenge in the history of the State'. And he angrily refuted suggestions the Government"s policies represented a bail-out for the banks. 'We are bailing out those who depend on the banking system,' he insisted. Rejecting opposition criticism of the National Asset Management Agency concept, the Taoiseach said the Fine Gael notion of not paying our bonds would ensure no international investment money ever returned to the Irish economy. The European Commission and the ESRI had both indicated that the correct decisions were being taken. The Fine Gael claim that it could close the gap between expenditure and revenue without recourse to raise taxes was not realistic.