Brian Cowen

“I've come up through the ranks of this parliamentary party and let me tell you the principles that have guided me on that journey since my first election 25 years ago: Loyalty to the party, service to our country and a determination to always do my best for the people. They are principles that still guide me.”

“As long as I am running this Government I will run the Government as I see fit...as I believe in, based on my philosophy.”

“I believe it is the best method to get the buy-in for the road we have to travel. I believe it is a problem-solving process about how we collectively come forward with a strategy to deal with the issue.”

“That deterioration, if you like, has to be addressed in the context of the Government being prepared to look at further programmes to see what way we can ensure that going into next year, as challenging as it may be, to see in what way we can seek to help stabilise the finances further.”

“We have seen already how resistant public opinion is, firstly to comprehension of the new paradigm in which we have to operate; and secondly, to the rationale behind the decisions we have had to take.”

“Hopefully that will be seen as a response, a leadership responding to an issue and therefore one's authority, while it's not as high if you didn't have the problem, it does mean that people say 'well he used his authority to come up with a solution in double-quick time that met with broader public acceptance.”

“We need to get a handle on this, will you ring those fuckers.”

“Yeah, well, there's a mirror in the toilet if you want to go in there and talk to them.”

“However, we must not lose sight of the fact that the fundamentals of the economy are still good.”

“I think it is fair to say that 2007 represents a turning point for the Irish economy.”

“There were a couple of occasions when it was passed around – and, unlike President Clinton, I did inhale!.”