It somehow seems inappropriate not to respectfully mention the death of former Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan who died earlier today at the age of 52 after a 2-year battle with cancer. There are better places than here to comment or pay tribute to the man, for example at irisheconomy.ie. Whilst Brian Lenihan and his policies will have had critics in life, understandably there have been many tributes paid today; this from the governor of the Central Bank ofIreland, Patrick Honohan,
“Brian Lenihan was a strong and energetic Minister for Finance who acted patriotically to stabilise the state’s finances in the face of unprecedented pressures. His quick intellect and grasp of constitutional detail made it a pleasure to conduct professional dealings with him. His death is a major loss to public life in Ireland.”
Last August 2010, then-Minister Lenihan became the first Fianna Fail politician to deliver the Michael Collins commemoration speech at Beal na mBlath. The speech is poignant for the many similarities between Brian Lenihan and Michael Collins, both being finance ministers and both sharing many personal and public qualities And on this day, I think many will wonder, as Brian Lenihan did of Michael Collins last year, if premature death has robbed us of future greatness.
Ar dheis De go raibh a anam
Who knows, perhaps he paid the ultimate price for his convictions, not only because I disagreed with his policies I thought it to be wrong for him to stay in politics, but because he would have served himself better to resign. I do respect him greatly for such persistence and extend sympathies to his family. R.I.P.
Enormous courage and strength of character in the face of a life threatening illness stands out for me as something to be greatly admired. I totally disagree with his political views and the actions which he undertook, but have enormous respect for the man…My sympathy to his family on such a loss at so young an age. RIP
He reminded me of Alec Guinness’s character, Colonel Nicholson, in Bridge On The River Kwai. No one could deny his courage and integrity. RIP.
History will not be kind to him.”The Irish Finance Minister who brought the IMF to these shore’s”. The Architect of “NAMA”. However he probably did his best in the interest of the country. May he Rest in peace.
He was handed an impossible brief and showed tremendous eloquence and personal courage in handling that brief. His own generous personality would have inclined him towards trusting the integrity and the bona fides of the many people who briefed him.
Sincere sympathy to him family. RIP
Disagreed totally with his major decisions as Finance Minister but never doubted his integrity. Ireland has lost a good man, no question.
Why should he be lauded now he’s dead whilst reviled when alive?.
He was reckless and irresponsible to carry on as finance minister when he was so ill.
Its indicative of Lenihan’s inner contempt for the Irish people that a sub standard performance from a gravely ill man is something to be admired as brave.
Along with FF he wrecked this country and he was a part of their malevolent rule for many years befor he became finance minister.
There was no courage or strength in continuing in his job as finance minister,more a delusional messiah complex.
His courage cannot be criticised. His intelligence, charm and proficiency in multiple languages, would have ensured him a triumph in the role of Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The foolishness of the government in leaving a terminally ill man, who was receiving multiple drugs, in charge of the economy at the most critical time ever for this nation, is beyond comprehension.
The fault lies mainly with Brian Cowen who, as leader, let his heart rule his head – an indulgence that we could ill afford.
I’m perplexed by the posthumous plaudits given to Brian Lenihan. It’s sad when anyone dies, but I don’t understand the white washing of his disastrous tenure as minister for finance. I don’t think he was a man of integrity – quite the opposite. He lied on many occasions about the finances of the country and the direction we were going in. Not only that but he discouraged discussion about Ireland’s financial situation. (see http://thepressnet.com/2010/11/22/brian-cowen-and-brian-lenihan%E2%80%99s-history-of-lies/ for catalogue of lies).
He was right about one thing: we’re not Iceland. If only…
+1 for sean’s post.
@ Sean,
I think you are being a touch unfair in your comment of Mr Brian Lenihan RIP.
How can you say he was reviled? Was he not re elected this year? If he was reviled then why was he reelected? The fact that Mr Brian Lenihan was reelected means that the people had faith in his integrity and person.
How can you say that “along with FF he wrecked this country”. Mr Lenihan came from a legal background, joined FF late in the 80′s / early 90′s and remained on the back benches, far from decision making until he got the job as Finance minister in 08. Or are you suggesting that Mr Lenihan is guilty through association?
The damage was well and truly coming home to roost well before Mr Lenihan became minister for Finance. If my memory is correct it was August 07 when the financial crisis became public.
Mr Lenihan was given a very poor hand of cards when he became MoF. We don’t know if he was told the truth on that faithful night prior to the Guarantee. All we can hopefully say is that he made the best decision with the information available to him at the time.
Sadly with Mr Lenihans passing, we may never know the full story of why certain decisions were taken. Mr Lenihans autobiography would have been a very interesting read. Sadly this book will not come to pass.
While your anger at FF is justified, lets not tar all with the same brush.
@ sporthog,
B.Lenihan grew up in FF and was around them all his life. As a highly educated man he would have seen first hand how that organisation worked .He would have been acutely aware of why various policy decisions were made when he was a backbencher.If his sentiments were patriotic and ran counter to reckless decisions taken by his colleagues he acquiesed through his silence.
He is therefore guilty by association.
There is no barrier to voters who support corruption and incompetence from electing who ever they want and the 16 % of the cast votes that went to FF in the General election are largely a manifestation of that inclination.
You state ”The fact that Mr Brian Lenihan was reelected means that the people had faith in his integrity and person…”
Please see L’ennui ‘s blog reference in the last post re Lenihans integrity.His record as MOF shows a consistent pattern of duplicity.
The fact that some people had faith in his integrity speaks to their lack of critical faculty.
If people are allowed free rein as some have been, to call him a patriot and a great man in death ,then those who rely on the public record should be free to declare this man a traitor and someone who ,along with his colleagues, wrecked this country in pursuit of their own selfish political objectives.
Much sympathy with BL family.
With the passage of time I think thoughts on a great man will distill down to the one big mistake – the Sept ’08 decision. I hope he can RIP.
Well said Séan. During his time as Minister his “mistakes” if that is what they were consistently benefited a very select few over the country. Let’s not pretend that he was a patriot, quiet the opposite in fact.
While ultimately the major issue will be the bank guarantee, there are countless other issues that will blacken his name and all who served in Govt. with him. One example being the removal of Section 10, which was suggested by the Dept. of Finance to prevent developers who owed Anglo Irish billions, but who had vast sums of this borrowed money in cash deposits in the bank, a perfectly correct decision. Lenihan removed it from the legislation and allowed the money to be withdrawn, leaving the debt to the taxpayer.