Brian Cowen was elected Leader of Fianna Fail in May 2008, upon the resignation of Bertie Ahern, and was nominated by Dail Eireann to replace him as Taoiseach.
74 Facts About Brian Cowen
2.
Brian Cowen received substantial criticism for his failure to stem the tide of either crisis, ultimately culminating in the Irish Government's formal request for financial aid from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, which was widely regarded in Ireland as a national humiliation.
3.
In January 2011, following a failed attempt at a cabinet reshuffle, and facing growing political pressure, Brian Cowen resigned as Leader of Fianna Fail, but remained as Taoiseach until after the general election held the following month; Brian Cowen stood down from politics at that election and left office as Taoiseach a fortnight later.
4.
Brian Cowen was born to a Catholic family, in Tullamore, County Offaly, on 10 January 1960.
5.
Brian Cowen often worked as a barman in his father's pub when he was growing up.
6.
Brian Cowen was educated at Clara National School, Ard Scoil Naomh Chiarain, in Clara and the Cistercian College of Mount St Joseph in Roscrea, County Tipperary.
7.
Brian Cowen was twelve years old when he entered Mount St Joseph College, as a boarder.
8.
Brian Cowen is a member of the Gaelic Athletic Association and continues to serve as president of Clara club.
9.
Brian Cowen played with the Offaly Gaelic football team in the early 1980s.
10.
The CD featured 28 songs, including Brian Cowen singing the Phil Coulter song, "The Town I Loved So Well".
11.
Brian Cowen is married to Mary Molloy and they have two daughters.
12.
In 2017, Brian Cowen was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the National University of Ireland.
13.
Brian Cowen was elected to Offaly County Council in the same year, taking over the seat vacated by his late father.
14.
Brian Cowen remained on the backbenches of Fianna Fail for the next seven years.
15.
Brian Cowen firmly aligned himself behind Reynolds and quickly became associated with the party's so-called "Country and Western" wing.
16.
In spite of being a member of the cabinet, Brian Cowen was openly hostile toward the PDs.
17.
In October 1994, it was revealed that Brian Cowen had 1,000 shares in Arcon, a company to which he was in the process of awarding a mining licence.
18.
Brian Cowen quickly sold the shares and apologised in the Dail for causing himself and his colleagues "some embarrassment".
19.
Brian Cowen was appointed to the front bench, first as Spokesperson on Agriculture, Food and Forestry, and later as Spokesperson on Health.
20.
When Fianna Fail returned to power following the 1997 general election, Brian Cowen was appointed as Minister for Health and Children.
21.
Brian Cowen described his period there as like being in Angola because administrative "landmines" could detonate without warning.
22.
In 2004, Brian Cowen played a key role during Ireland's Presidency of the European Council and the simultaneous expansion of the European Union.
23.
Brian Cowen has been criticised for alleged complacency during the economic turmoil in January 2008.
24.
Brian Cowen's position was strengthened when he succeeded Mary O'Rourke as deputy leader of the party in 2002.
25.
Brian Cowen was acclaimed as the seventh leader of Fianna Fail on 9 April 2008, and assumed office upon Ahern's resignation becoming effective on 6 May 2008.
26.
On 7 May 2008, Brian Cowen was nominated by Dail Eireann as Taoiseach, by 88 votes to 76, and was appointed by President of Ireland Mary McAleese.
27.
On 22 January 2011, despite winning a secret confidence motion the week before, Brian Cowen announced he was stepping down as leader, in advance of the 2011 election, in order to put the party in "the best possible position".
28.
Brian Cowen delivered the Irish government budget for 2009 on 14 October 2008, brought forward from its usual December date due to the global financial crisis.
29.
Brian Cowen additionally approved a five-day withdrawal of Irish pork from the market.
30.
Brian Cowen's government received heavy criticism for overreaction in its handling of the incident, with Leader of the Opposition Enda Kenny calling the government's response as "an unmitigated disaster".
31.
In February 2010, Brian Cowen defended his claim that the National Asset Management Agency would increase the supply of credit into the economy despite the International Monetary Fund, saying it would not lead to any significant increase.
32.
Brian Cowen previously said that the Government's objective in restructuring the banks through NAMA was to "generate more access to credit for Irish business at this critical time".
33.
In September 2009, the Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen Lenihan, expressed a similar view, saying it would lead to more lending for business and households.
34.
Kenny said Taoiseach Brian Cowen, in defending his own personal handling of events, was refusing to acknowledge that he drove the economy "up on the rocks" for four years when he was Minister for Finance.
35.
On 15 June 2010, Brian Cowen faced his second no-confidence motion in just over a year, tabled by Fine Gael after the publication of two reports that criticised government policies in the run-up to Ireland's banking crisis.
36.
On 24 November 2010, Brian Cowen unveiled a four-year plan to stabilise the economy by 2014.
37.
In recognition of the political disaster this would inflict on his government, Brian Cowen indicated that the election would take place in early 2011, after the 2011 budgetary process has been completed, though at the time he would not set a specific date.
38.
The first was a telephone call in March 2008, while Brian Cowen was overseas in Vietnam and when Brian Cowen was then Minister of Finance.
39.
However, when questioned by the Sinn Fein Dail leader Caoimhghin O Caolain, Brian Cowen was forced to admit that there were two other people at the meeting, Gary McGann, a director of Anglo Irish Bank and Alan Gray, a director of the Central Bank and currently managing director of a consultancy company Indecon.
40.
Brian Cowen has claimed that the meeting was a social event, while Gray has stated that he was invited to provide economic advice on stimulating the economy.
41.
Brian Cowen subsequently threatened to sue Caoimhghin O Caolain, if he repeated the accusation outside the Dail.
42.
Brian Cowen announced on 16 January 2011, that he would not resign as party leader of his own accord; however, he would put down a motion of confidence in his leadership at Fianna Fail's parliamentary party meeting on 18 January 2011, to be decided by secret ballot.
43.
Brian Cowen announced that he had "reluctantly" accepted Martin's resignation from his government.
44.
The resignations were engineered to allow Brian Cowen to appoint new Ministers, who might strengthen his party's position for the election.
45.
The Greens accordingly refused to endorse Brian Cowen's intended replacements, forcing Brian Cowen to reassign the vacant portfolios to incumbent Ministers.
46.
The Green Party threatened to pull out of the government unless Brian Cowen set a firm date for the general election; Brian Cowen subsequently announced it would take place on 11 March 2011.
47.
When Brian Cowen addressed the Dail to announce the reshuffle, the Green Party were absent and had not taken their seats in the Dail that day.
48.
Brian Cowen insisted that he would continue as Taoiseach, until the election, in order to complete legislation for the 2011 budget.
49.
Leader of the Opposition Enda Kenny announced that if Brian Cowen did not ask President Mary McAleese for an immediate dissolution of the Dail, his own party would table a no-confidence motion in the Taoiseach on Tuesday, ahead of Labour's motion.
50.
On 24 January 2011, Finance Minister Brian Cowen Lenihan met with delegations from Fine Gael, Labour, and the Greens, striking a final deal.
51.
Accordingly, Brian Cowen asked McAleese to dissolve the Dail on 1 February 2011.
52.
Brian Cowen subsequently confirmed that the general election would be brought forward to 25 February 2011.
53.
Brian Cowen announced that he would not contest his Dail seat.
54.
Brian Cowen said he would retire from politics, after 27 years.
55.
The pent-up resentment at Brian Cowen's government resulted in a debacle for Fianna Fail at the general election.
56.
Brian Cowen was succeeded by Leader of the Opposition Enda Kenny as Taoiseach, leading a Fine Gael-Labour coalition, which took office on 9 March 2011.
57.
Brian Cowen was often referred to in Irish satirical and tabloid media as BIFFO, a nickname applied to people from Offaly.
58.
WikiLeaks cables from Ireland to the US revealed, that US diplomats in Ireland reported that the nickname BIFFO applied "especially well" to former Taoiseach Brian Cowen, as described in leaked US embassy dispatches.
59.
Brian Cowen has been openly criticised by his parliamentary party colleagues including one who said in an interview that Brian Cowen has suffered from "poor communications and consultation" and expressed concern about the emergence of a perceived "triumvirate" within the Cabinet.
60.
Brian Cowen was criticised as being inept during the approach to the third budget, in December 2009.
61.
Brian Cowen said, "our priority is to stabilise the public finances", a year after the Irish public was told that this was the priority for 2008.
62.
On 14 September 2010, after an interview on RTE's Morning Ireland, Brian Cowen was described by Deputy Simon Coveney of Fine Gael as sounding as if he was intoxicated or hungover.
63.
Brian Cowen became leader of Fianna Fail and Taoiseach without ever facing an election in either capacity; he is the only Fianna Fail leader to have left the post without ever taking the party into an election.
64.
Brian Cowen was criticised for being a poor communicator and for his perceived failure to connect with the electorate.
65.
In November 2011, a review of Brian Cowen's governance was broadcast on RTE television over two episodes entitled Crisis: Inside the Brian Cowen Government.
66.
Brian Cowen did not contribute to the series, but many of his former ministerial colleagues critiqued his performance as Taoiseach.
67.
Brian Cowen admitted that his government should accept some blame for Ireland's economic downfall.
68.
Brian Cowen compared the start of the 2008 economic crisis to a series of plane crashes, all taking place at the same time and each for different reasons.
69.
In May 2014, Brian Cowen became part of the board of Topaz Energy.
70.
Brian Cowen was appointed to the board of Beacon Hospital in February 2015.
71.
In July 2017, Brian Cowen was conferred with an honorary doctorate from the National University of Ireland, an honour bestowed on all but two former Taoisigh.
72.
On 5 July 2019, Brian Cowen was admitted to Beacon Hospital after suffering a major brain hemorrhage.
73.
Brian Cowen was then transferred to St Vincent's University Hospital where he spent five months before transferring to a physical rehabilitation facility.
74.
Brian Cowen returned home in 2021 and has made a recent public appearance in a wheelchair.