Brian Lenihan RIP

[sheepshagger]

Former Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has passed away.

The 59-year-old lost his battle with illness early this morning.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2009, and served as Finance Minister up until February of this year.



Read more: http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/bria ... z1OreZDRel

[Avenger]

RIP.
Always wondered why he stayed in politics when he was fighting such a terrible disease.

[the spoofer]

RIP.
Always wondered why he stayed in politics when he was fighting such a terrible disease.

Because he was an honourable man who tried his hardest for his country.

A real patriot

RIP.

[Hickiefan]

Always came across as a decent sort. Glad he got some privacy at the end. RIP.

[JohnB]

He was an amiable, intelligent and honourable man who tried to do his country some service in a difficult time for all of us and especuially so for him given his illness. God rest him.

[hugonaut]

Yeah, I must say that I had a lot of time for him - he had a stellar academic career, was a very well-regarded professional and tried to do a good job in the public service in an extremely difficult time for the country. He certainly made mistakes, but who hasn't? He faced up to his illness and his obligations with great bravery, and showed immense strength of character in the most trying of times. My genuine sympathies go to his family, who have lost a very good man.

Rest In Peace.

[suisse]

I may not have agreed with all of his policies, but I will always regard Brian Lenihan very highly for his dedication, bravery and committment, especially staying in such a difficult post with such a terrible illness as he brought up a young family.

FF has lost one of its few good men.

I wish his family all the best. RIP Brian!

[berniemac67]

My sympathies go to his family, it is a terrible thing for them.

Having said that, I STRONGLY disagree with almost everything posted so far on this thread.

By way of disclaimer I have no party affiliation or preference.

[Darce]

My sympathies go to his family, it is a terrible thing for them.

Having said that, I STRONGLY disagree with almost everything posted so far on this thread.

By way of disclaimer I have no party affiliation or preference.

Yes, his cunning plan to nobble the country went off to a tee.

Christ on a bike give me strength

[Peg Leg]

RIP, as affable as a politician is capable of being!
Genuine admiration for his dedication in the face of a crippling illness, which lets face it- He was doing for his country.

[artaneboy]

My sympathies go to his family, it is a terrible thing for them.

Having said that, I STRONGLY disagree with almost everything posted so far on this thread.

By way of disclaimer I have no party affiliation or preference.

What exactly do you STRONGLY disagree with? That he was an honourable man that tried his best for his country? Read the thread title - it's a clue to what we are on about here. If you disagree with the thread theme, them stay OUT of it and go to indulge yourself with the babble on Politics.ie!

I have no interest in whether you have any political affiliation of not. But for the record- as it seems to matter to you, I'm not a traditional Fianna Fail voter. Indeed I've hardly ever voted for them and when I have it has been in a venal tactical manner. But Brian Lenihan is the nearest thing to a political hero that I have/ had. He was genuine patriot and is deserving of the respect of silence by his critics in this thread, if they can say nothing else.

[Mackman15]

I sympathise entirely with his family and the political judgements are for another day but is there any plausible explanation as to what on earth the man was thinking putting himself and his family through an election campaign 4 months ago when his health was in a such a grave state. I accept passion and commitment to the cause but I would like to think that if I was in the same boat that I'd abandon FF, elections etc, and concentrate on my kids.

[artaneboy]

I sympathise entirely with his family and the political judgements are for another day but is there any plausible explanation as to what on earth the man was thinking putting himself and his family through an election campaign 4 months ago when his health was in a such a grave state. I accept passion and commitment to the cause but I would like to think that if I was in the same boat that I'd abandon FF, elections etc, and concentrate on my kids.

I suppose people react differently to such a sentence and it depends on the circumstances. Would his withdrawal from public/ political life have helped him and his family face the inevitable, or was devoting himself to the huge task of rescuing the country from its calamity a better monument to his life and their in public service? So I guess he and his family decided the latter.

I remember the sneering contempt and jaundiced incredulity of the commentariat, when he suggested (in terms) that it was people's "patriotic" duty to accept the cuts of his first swinging budget. I don't think there can be any doubt now that he was both serious in that and devoted the rest of his life to the hopeless task.

[was never late ref]

....... perhaps with Brian's death so defined and definite , his work and efforts in trying to help our country while struggling with his illness in 2010, make him the ultimate difinition of a PUBLIC SERVANT .
Thank you Brian for all you ve done for my country and its childrens future. RIP

[FrankBurke]

I went to school with him. As decent and honourable a person as you're ever likely to meet.

Gone way before his time, he had so much to offer.

Sincerest condolences to his family.

[tate]

Astonishingly frank interview a chance to set the record straight

DAN O'BRIEN, Economics Editor


LAST INTERVIEW: ON APRIL 6th last, in a noisy meeting room in an annex of the Leinster House complex, Brian Lenihan gave an astonishingly frank interview on the events surrounding the November 2010 EU-IMF bailout.

Relaxed and at ease, his pleasure at being involved in public affairs was evident not only in his eagerness to tease out even the most arcane points, but also in the amount of time he was prepared to give. The interview, for a BBC documentary to be broadcast just a few weeks later, had been scheduled to last 30-45 minutes. Instead, it went on for more than two hours.

The former minister for finance detailed how events unfolded during those extraordinary weeks in November, described the roles played by the people involved and, most poignantly, spoke of the anguish he felt at the time. As the interview progressed, he was occasionally so frank that – had he not been such an experienced politician – one might have wondered if he had forgotten his words were being recorded.

Mr Lenihan said Ireland had effectively been forced into a bailout, accused some senior members of the European Central Bank of “damaging” Ireland with their media briefings, and claimed the German finance minister had demanded at a meeting in Brussels that Mr Lenihan accompany him to a press conference to announce without cabinet approval that Ireland would seek a bailout.

The number and scope of the revelations in the interview were unexpected, in part because of the fraught circumstances. Mr Lenihan had been the most difficult of all the bailout players to pin down for an interview.

Things had started badly. Both Adele Armstrong, the BBC producer of the programme, and I had met him a month earlier to conduct the interview. That meeting took place in the Department of Finance on March 4th, two weeks after the election and as he was preparing to hand over to the new administration.

When he arrived, long after the scheduled time, he was uncharacteristically flustered and hostile. It was the only time I had ever seen him genuinely angry and fully prepared to show it. Although his staff had agreed to the meeting on his behalf, it was clear he had seen the list of questions only immediately beforehand. And he was furious with what he was to be asked.

He interpreted the questions as an attempt to cast him in a bad light and was particularly irritated by a question that referred to his being part of a political “dynasty”. Given that, with the exception of the dynasty question, almost all the others were the same as those submitted to other interviewees, we were taken aback by the extent of his agitation. And all the more so as he was deservedly known for his courtesy, politeness and unflappability in the face of great pressure and unfair criticism.

After considerable reassurance the documentary was in no way an attempt to ambush or undermine him, the atmosphere changed. He said he felt he could not go on record while still minister for finance, but nonetheless spent almost an hour discussing the bailout with a frankness no other interviewee had demonstrated.

When the on-the-record interview took place on April 6th, the by-then Opposition backbencher was a very different person from the agitated minister of March 4th. He was relaxed, openly proud of having been re-elected and displayed not the merest hint of the suspicion and even paranoia that he showed as the abortive interview of March 4th began. For a man who had just 10 weeks to live, he was full of life and eager not only to describe events as he recalled them, but also to test his memories and ideas about what had happened six months earlier with characteristic intellectual curiosity.

He had very clearly put some thought into what he would say, but at no time in the course of an almost 20,000-word interview did he seek to absolve himself of responsibility for what happened.

More than anything else, he appeared greatly unburdened as the interview began and, by talking so freely, appeared to be unburdening himself further. “I enjoyed that,” he said at the end of the two-hour plus interview.

At the time, it was this unburdening to which I (probably wrongly) attributed his frankness. During most of his three years as finance minister, a wrong or misplaced word by him could have triggered a market panic or even a bank run. To live with that risk and responsibility day in, day out for so long could not have been easy. To be able to speak freely after being relentlessly cautious must have come as huge relief.

In hindsight, however, it seems more likely his motive for speaking so openly had less to do with his newfound freedom from the responsibilities of office and much more to do with setting the record straight, knowing that he might not have many other such opportunities. That, tragically, has proved to be the case.

[Donny B.]

If Brian Lenihan was a genuine patriot he would have served all of Ireland's people, not the cabal of developers, businessmen and bankers that FF cowtowed to.

The death of any man at such a young age is tragic and I've held back until after he was buried but the sentimental bullsh*t being spouted about him has gotten out of hand. Some gimp on the news yesterday actually called him "the uncrowned king of Ireland" FFS.

When you strip away all the platitudes he was the politician who signed this country's death warrant when he agreed to an unlimited bank guarantee. He was also a fully paid up member of Fianna Fail who fully supported Bertie's corrupt, self-serving regime and took various posts in his government.

Admittedly he talked a good game and came across as a reasonable human being, but actions speak louder than words.

Good piece by Vincent Browne today in the IT, hopefully it might bring an end to the Princess Di-like love-in and allow a genuine debate on the man's contribution to the state, without emotional histronics.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opi ... 36309.html

[Amz]

Unfortunately Ireland has a major problem with "speaking ill of the dead" and to some people speaking about the facts of a person's life after they've died is the same as speaking ill if they don't cover the person in glory.

I hate that rubbish.

[artaneboy]

If Brian Lenihan was a genuine patriot he would have served all of Ireland's people, not the cabal of developers, businessmen and bankers that FF cowtowed to.

The death of any man at such a young age is tragic and I've held back until after he was buried but the sentimental bullsh*t being spouted about him has gotten out of hand. Some gimp on the news yesterday actually called him "the uncrowned king of Ireland" FFS.

When you strip away all the platitudes he was the politician who signed this country's death warrant when he agreed to an unlimited bank guarantee. He was also a fully paid up member of Fianna Fail who fully supported Bertie's corrupt, self-serving regime and took various posts in his government.

Admittedly he talked a good game and came across as a reasonable human being, but actions speak louder than words.

Good piece by Vincent Browne today in the IT, hopefully it might bring an end to the Princess Di-like love-in and allow a genuine debate on the man's contribution to the state, without emotional histronics.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opi ... 36309.html

I was going to tackle your points one by one, until I realised you have advanced no real arguments in your piece here that back up why you claim Lenihan is not a patriot or was at fault for the calamity that has descended upon us. Just the usual populist guff that we get used to reading from people on politicians and guilt by association. It's apparently always cool to cynical!

One more thing Donny - don't ever quote Vincent Browne as an authority, if you want an argument to be taken seriously.

[berniemac67]

If Brian Lenihan was a genuine patriot he would have served all of Ireland's people, not the cabal of developers, businessmen and bankers that FF cowtowed to.

The death of any man at such a young age is tragic and I've held back until after he was buried but the sentimental bullsh*t being spouted about him has gotten out of hand. Some gimp on the news yesterday actually called him "the uncrowned king of Ireland" FFS.

When you strip away all the platitudes he was the politician who signed this country's death warrant when he agreed to an unlimited bank guarantee. He was also a fully paid up member of Fianna Fail who fully supported Bertie's corrupt, self-serving regime and took various posts in his government.

Admittedly he talked a good game and came across as a reasonable human being, but actions speak louder than words.

Good piece by Vincent Browne today in the IT, hopefully it might bring an end to the Princess Di-like love-in and allow a genuine debate on the man's contribution to the state, without emotional histronics.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opi ... 36309.html

I was going to tackle your points one by one, until I realised you have advanced no real arguments in your piece here that back up why you claim Lenihan is not a patriot or was at fault for the calamity that has descended upon us. Just the usual populist guff that we get used to reading from people on politicians and guilt by association. It's apparently always cool to cynical!

One more thing Donny - don't ever quote Vincent Browne as an authority, if you want an argument to be taken seriously.

you're funny