IT’S generally accepted that the late Brian Lenihan was a fundamentally decent man with a great intellect.
He was handed something of a poisoned chalice when appointed Minister for Finance in May 2008. And given his legal background he was a somewhat curious choice for the job.
But in times of economic turmoil, Brian Lenihan sounded like he knew what he was talking about. In comparison to the often incoherent ramblings of then Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Lenihan was an articulate and reassuring voice in the political wilderness.
Of course, we wouldn’t have been so reassured had we known of Lenihan’s inner turmoil as the Celtic Tiger started to devour itself just months after he took the helm.
We now realise that Brian Lenihan was seriously out of his depth – and this is understandable given the unprecedented scale of the crisis unfolding at the time. The most enduring image of that chaotic September is of the minister sitting in economist David McWilliams’ kitchen eating cloves of garlic as the clock ticked on financial Armageddon.
Through the prism of hindsight, the bank guarantee and bailout of a number of financial institutions is largely seen by ordinary Irish people as a disastrous move.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny recently claimed there was an
“axis of collusion
? between Fianna Fail and the Anglo bankers. It was an extremely serious allegation to make and it remains to be seen if he has any evidence to stand up his claim.
I personally don’t believe that senior Fianna Fail figures like Brian Lenihan would have been part of any conspiracy that would ultimately have the effect of ending Ireland’s economic sovereignty.
There is little doubt that the Government of the day made mistakes in September 2008 and in the months that followed. At the very least they can be accused of poor judgement or even incompetence.
Fianna Fail were punished severely for their role in the collapse of the economy in the last general election, although polls suggest that much has been forgiven since then.
Brian Lenihan has since passed away after a remarkably brave battle with cancer. He worked through ill health to try to contain a crisis that he and his Government colleagues had helped create.
But we need to ensure that his legacy is not unfairly tarnished by cheap political point scoring. Let’s not forget that he is no longer around to defend himself.