Position: Irish Prime Minister
Incumbent: Brian Cowen, 50
Term: May, 2008 until 2012. Former Finance Minister Cowen took office in May 2008, following the resignation of Bertie Ahern. Recent opinion polls put Cowen's deeply unpopular Fianna Fail party in third place ahead of the next parliamentary poll, scheduled for 2012.
Key facts:
-- Cowen heads a coalition government led by Fianna Fail that includes the Green Party and has the support of independents MPs. His parliamentary majority has been dwindling under the strain of fiscal and banking reforms, making an early parliamentary election next year increasingly likely.
-- Cowen has earned praise abroad for spearheading budget reform but often been pilloried at home for his part in Ireland's dramatic fall from booming 'Celtic Tiger' to one of Europe's most vulnerable economies. In June, he won his second confidence vote in just over a year. The vote followed two official reports that criticized government policies in the run-up to Ireland's banking crisis, when Cowen was finance minister.
-- A former solicitor educated at University College Dublin, he has held most of Ireland's key cabinet posts including foreign affairs, health, labor and transport before taking over as finance minister in 2004.
-- Born in January, 1960 in Clara, County Offaly, Cowen contested and won his first election at the age of 24, succeeding his father as a member of parliament for the midlands constituency of Laois-Offaly and becoming one of the youngest ever members of the Dail (lower house of parliament).
-- His large physical presence, a gruff public persona and a tendency to appear bored by bureaucratic routine have left him saddled with the nickname 'Biffo,' an acronym for 'big ignorant fellow from Offaly,' with the word 'fellow' invariably replaced with an expletive. He apologized just two weeks into the job for using the 'F' word in the parliamentary chamber. He is popular in his native county where he would often break into song at campaign events. Keywords: IE/PROFILE LEADER (Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian, Dublin newsroom; dublin.newsroom@reuters.com; phone: +35315001529) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Incumbent: Brian Cowen, 50
Term: May, 2008 until 2012. Former Finance Minister Cowen took office in May 2008, following the resignation of Bertie Ahern. Recent opinion polls put Cowen's deeply unpopular Fianna Fail party in third place ahead of the next parliamentary poll, scheduled for 2012.
Key facts:
-- Cowen heads a coalition government led by Fianna Fail that includes the Green Party and has the support of independents MPs. His parliamentary majority has been dwindling under the strain of fiscal and banking reforms, making an early parliamentary election next year increasingly likely.
-- Cowen has earned praise abroad for spearheading budget reform but often been pilloried at home for his part in Ireland's dramatic fall from booming 'Celtic Tiger' to one of Europe's most vulnerable economies. In June, he won his second confidence vote in just over a year. The vote followed two official reports that criticized government policies in the run-up to Ireland's banking crisis, when Cowen was finance minister.
-- A former solicitor educated at University College Dublin, he has held most of Ireland's key cabinet posts including foreign affairs, health, labor and transport before taking over as finance minister in 2004.
-- Born in January, 1960 in Clara, County Offaly, Cowen contested and won his first election at the age of 24, succeeding his father as a member of parliament for the midlands constituency of Laois-Offaly and becoming one of the youngest ever members of the Dail (lower house of parliament).
-- His large physical presence, a gruff public persona and a tendency to appear bored by bureaucratic routine have left him saddled with the nickname 'Biffo,' an acronym for 'big ignorant fellow from Offaly,' with the word 'fellow' invariably replaced with an expletive. He apologized just two weeks into the job for using the 'F' word in the parliamentary chamber. He is popular in his native county where he would often break into song at campaign events. Keywords: IE/PROFILE LEADER (Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian, Dublin newsroom; dublin.newsroom@reuters.com; phone: +35315001529) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.