Was it good for you?

First, please bear in mind that this is my reaction to the speech having witnessed it from inside the conference hall. It was pitched for a television audience so the reactions of the folks at home are more important than our opinions here in City West.

Having said all that, I thought the delivery was fine. Just fine. But the content was not so hot.

There was no line, no mention, no hint of Fianna Fáil accepting the slightest bit of responsibility for the situation this country now finds itself in. When you have been in government for the last 11 years, at least some responsibility comes with the territory.

While Cowen’s speech empathised with those who are hurting, he really needed to hold his hands up just a little and say ‘Hey, we got stuff wrong’. This Ard Fheis speech had been built up as a make or break moment in his career, and with this platform he really needed to give people something new, something they have not heard in the Dáil recently. Instead, Cowen hammered the Bankers.

This tactic of going after Public Enemy Number 1 was underscored in Noel Dempsey’s warm-up speech (most of which, I gather, was not broadcast live). Presumably, Dempsey, was chosen to introduce Cowen because of his recent “economic treason” remarks. Party handlers obviously thought he had tapped into a vein of public anger, but I’m not so sure. The doyens of the financial services have been getting it in the neck for quite a while now here in Ireland, but also in America since last year (Wall St execs).

The public expected something more from Cowen tonight and while he announced plans for a new Central Banking Commission and a Financial Services Consumer Agency, they sound vague and of less import to the general public than an admission that mistakes were made and will be learned from.

Also, the misjudged tone of the speech was not helped by its language. Evoking the Meitheal is a nice idea but I wonder whether people found it a little patronising, as in: ‘Never mind how we ended up with a €18 billion shortfall in current expenditure, sure let’s all work together like men in the fields years ago’.

I also felt it was dicey to use the breast cancer controversy to illustrate the ‘let’s make things better’ attitude. But maybe that’s just me.

The delegates clapped and whooped at some points but weren’t over-generous in their applause. Those I spoke to after said it was a “good” speech. I suspect they enjoyed Dempsey’s more (the text of which I will link to as soon as it is posted).

So, how did it come across on TV? Was it good for you?