OFFALY REACTION:TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen's decision not to step aside was welcomed by many in his native Co Offaly, where there was a general feeling his resignation would have equated to an admission of wrongdoing.
Cllr Tony McCormack (FF) said he was sure the Taoiseach could win the ballot on Tuesday. “It puts an end to all the speculation. I would be very very confident that he will get that motion of confidence on Tuesday. He will lead Fianna Fáil into the next general election and I think he is the right man for the job,” he said.
“Everybody has their opportunity now and Fianna Fáil being the party that it is, they will unite behind whatever the democratic decision is on Tuesday,” added Cllr McCormack.
Another local Fianna Fáil councillor, Finian O’Neill, admitted he had been somewhat concerned at the prospect of a secret ballot.
“At first when I heard the secret ballot I was wary – I thought back to the late Charlie Haughey, but our Taoiseach is too confident. He obviously has the numbers worked out at this stage and I have no doubt that they are worked out.”
Cllr O’Neill was relieved by the prospect of a conclusion to the leadership challenge. “I’m delighted to see that this will be put to bed on Tuesday. I’ve no doubt that the parliamentary party is behind him, with the exception of a handful. It is essential to move forward and get the country back to what it was or close to.”
Director of the Brewery Tap pub, Paul Bell, was confident Mr Cowen can survive. “I’m delighted for him – it would have been the real wrong decision for him to go. If he resigned over this he was nearly saying that what he done was wrong, which it wasn’t.
“I think he was dead right. The party had loads of chances to get rid of him through the normal channels and they didn’t. I think it is for the betterment of the party. For everyone in the constituency, we’re all thrilled that he stayed on. He’ll win easily on Tuesday.”
Customer Richard Smyth believed the challengers have shown little grit. “They are not facing him man to man, you see. They are not facing up to him.”
He feels the Taoiseach could have communicated more with the nation. “He didn’t speak to people enough, the general public didn’t know what was going on.”
Mr Smyth was critical of the media, and in particular Dublin-based media. “If he was a Dub he would never have had these problems. The fact that he came from Offaly, it didn’t matter who he was – he was on a losing spell there.”