Irish Prime Minister Cowen refuses to step down

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen announced on Sunday that he will remain as the leader of the governing Fianna Fáil party, the Irish Times reported.

After two days of consultation, Cowen said that resigning would lead to confusion and a loss of authority.
" "For Fianna Fáil the party is important but the interests of the country are paramount," Cowen said. "No. I made no indication of resigning at any time as leader of the party."

Despite demands for him to step down, Cowen added that he plans to table a motion of confidence in his leadership at Tuesday's Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting.



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"Ireland faced a painful choice between imposing a resolution on banks that were too big to save or becoming insolvent, and, for whatever reason, chose the latter. Sovereign nations get to make policy choices, and we (Ireland) are no longer a sovereign nation in any meaningful sense of that term. From here on, for better or worse, we can only rely on the kindness of strangers."



Read the article at irishtimes.com