The new regime must guard against a reputation for inaccessibility, writes Noel Whelan.
Last Saturday night in Clara, as Brian Cowen finished his homecoming tour of Offaly, we got an insight into how the new Taoiseach is negotiating his relationship with the media.
Having completed his speech, Cowen began to sing a ballad about his father. Realising he had started too high, he stopped to adjust the key and before recommencing commented that the false start would probably be the clip shown "on the bloody television".
"That's the problem," he added, "when you have perfectionists running our public broadcasting system. They never make a mistake themselves".
It was a joke, of course, and the local crowd lapped it up. However, it worked as a joke because the audience had some understanding of Cowen's occasional sense of irritation with the media. Indeed, his irritation was more pronounced moments later when he asked the posse of TV cameras and photographers to step back so that the crowd could see him.
While a clip of the Cowen's ballad did make the main evening news, the false start did not. A full recording of his speech and song in Clara has made its way on to YouTube where it has proved quite popular, attracting almost 2,500 hits in its first week.
The public are curious about their new leader and now getting a more comprehensive picture of him. They are learning that he speaks fluent Irish, that family is important to him, that he can hold a tune and that, unlike most ballad singers, he knows the second verse. They are learning that he has a strong sense of this country's past and a sophisticated view of its future.
They are also beginning to understand the depth of his political and provincial heritage. All the signs are that they like what they see. Although the surge for Fianna Fáil reflected in yesterday's TNS/mrbi poll must be seen in the context of Cowen's honeymoon period, as honeymoons go, he is having a good one.
Cowen knows his relationship with the media will do much to determine how the public sees him. If in addition to being a decisive and determined leader, he is also to be a persuader, he needs to get on with the media. He gave some indication of his likely approach in his first interview with Seán O'Rourke when elected leader-designate saying: "The media have a job to do. I know that. I will deal with the media when it is necessary to deal with them for [the media] to do [their] job and for me trying to persuade and get out my message as well."
At this stage as the public are forming an image of Cowen, his dealings with the media are important. Rows about whether colour writers are allowed to attend photo calls can be viewed as localised squabbles but the new regime must guard against a reputation for inaccessibility - even if unfairly earned.
When John Bruton was taoiseach, many commentators complained he was secretive and elusive even though he had promised to conduct his government "behind a pane of clear glass". It was an unfair view but once it took hold, it was impossible for him to shake it off.
Bertie Ahern had a reputation for being available to the media and some predicted that Cowen would be compared unfavourably in this regard. Ahern's media availability was, in reality, quite limited and nearly always on his own terms.
Apart from ardfheis weekends and occasional short set-piece interviews on the main evening news bulletin, Ahern seldom did extensive television interviews. Almost all his radio interviews were done with one interviewer on the RTÉ Radio 1 Sunday lunchtime This Week programme with whom Ahern was particularly comfortable.
Most days that Ahern was on tour in the capital or around the country, he made himself available at some point for questions but, by their very nature, these doorstep opportunities were always short.
Ahern created the impression of being very available to the media. Once generated, that impression stuck.
There is now a large, diverse and increasingly demanding pool of journalists covering politics. In recent years they were well fed. Covering Michael McDowell provided many stories and they had a long lead into last year's election campaign. Since the election they have been absorbed in the twists of the controversy about Ahern's finances.
Cowen will be operating in a different media environment. Ahern's finances will still generate colourful copy but not on the same scale. A general election is not expected for four years. It is to be hoped that most of the newly available space on news bulletins and the political pages of newspapers will be devoted to substantial issues.
There has to be a serious risk, however, that once the novelty of a new Taoiseach and a newish Government wears off, things will change and what Tony Blair called "the feral beast" will cast its eye around Government and politics for other stories and headlines. In such an environment, slips-ups take on an exaggerated importance.Getting off on the wrong foot with the media can be detrimental to political survival.