Cowen Sorry For "Hangover" Interview

Taoiseach Brian Cowen was forced to apologize live on TV last week for his performance in an RTE radio interview which led to claims he was "halfway between drunk and hung-over".

Mr Cowen denied the claim, but after a massive public outcry, admitted he was "hoarse" and his performance "wasn't his best".

And over the weekend, he promised to be "more cautious" about his social life in future.

Mr Cowen had agreed to an 8:45am interview on Ireland's most-listened-to radio show Morning Ireland on the final day of a party conference at a hotel in Galway.

But on the night before, he stayed up until after 3:30am singing, joking and drinking with party members and some journalists.

During the interview, he sounded hoarse and congested.

He stumbled twice - including mixing up the Croke Park Agreement on pay cuts for public servants with the Good Friday Agreement - and was vague and unclear at other points.

Before the interview was even concluded, the blogosphere was alive with criticism and speculation.

One of the more tame comments on one site was "Cowen sounds like he had a very late night. Very tetchy. A bit confused. Awful."

On Twitter, other listeners were offering similar critiques.

Then shortly after the interview ended, a leading Opposition T.D. - Simon Coveney of Fine Gael - tweeted: "God, what an uninspiring interview by Taoiseach this morning. He sounded halfway between drunk and hungover and totally disinterested..."

The tweet was covered on radio, and when Brian Cowen emerged from an early morning meeting which he had attended after the interview, he was door-stepped by the media.

A TV reporter told a clearly stunned Taoiseach, that the internet and radio were alive with claims that he was drunk or hung-over during the Morning Ireland interview.

Mr Cowen said it was "ridiculous" and "uncalled for".

But his denial was enough to spark worldwide coverage -as news agencies like Reuters and AP sent stories with headlines like: "Irish Prime Minister denies being drunk during live radio interview" around the globe.

Several senior government ministers spent the day defending the Taoiseach, saying that while it was clear he was hoarse, the content of the interview was fine.

At a later press conference Mr Cowen described Simon Coveney's tweet as "a new low in Irish politics".

But the controversy showed no signs of abating.

An analysis showed the story had been picked up by over 450 publications in 26 countries including the BBC, MSNBC, New York Times, Fox News, Wall Street Journal and many others.

There were fears that the damage caused to the Taoiseach's standing abroad would further concern international investors, who already fear Ireland is on its way to becoming the next Greece.

Next morning, the controversy gained fresh impetus as newspaper journalists who had been present at the late night party, wrote detailed accounts of what they had seen.

Late night drinking is common at these party conferences, but the details are rarely discussed.

Journalists wrote about how after a dinner of beef, sea-bass and seafood vol-au-vents, Mr Cowen chatted and drank with colleagues and journalists, as a sing-song began in the function room.

And it wasn't long before Mr Cowen himself was taking part.

He sang a song: The Lakes of Pontchartrain.

He told yarns and jokes, including impersonating GAA commentator Micheal O'Muircheartaigh and golfer Phillip Watson.

By all accounts it was like the afters of a good country wedding.

None of the journalists claimed that Mr Cowen had been drinking to excess, but all had seen him drinking a few pints of beer.

It was 3:30am when Mr Cowen went to bed, and five hours later he would get up for the controversial interview.

The details of the night before enraged the public.

How dare the leader of the country be joking and partying until the wee hours of the morning, when he knew he had an interview on the country's perilous financial state with the most high profile radio show in the country early next morning?

The story raged for another day - and the government continued to blame Simon Coveney's Tweet for the furore - Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said claimed it was "effectively a libel".

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin was the only minister to acknowledge publicly that "lessons had to be learned" and that the fact that the story had gotten international attention "does cause reflection".

After a cabinet meeting, Brian Cowen went on the evening TV news to apologise.

"I would like to make it clear that there was no intention on my part whatever of any disrespect to the country or to the people of Ireland in respect of the interview itself," he said.

"It wasn't my best performance and I want to apologize for that."

But he insisted claims that he was hung-over or drunk were without foundation.

The controversy has cast his leadership of his party into doubt - many Fianna Fáil backbenchers are known to favour a heave.

And Mr Cowen's poor media performances have been an issue in the past - he's regularly promised to up his game.

As it seemed the controversy had finally been put behind him on Day Three, there was still one sting left in the tail.

Ryder Cup winning golfer Phillip Walton revealed he has written to the Taoiseach demanding an explanation of why Mr Cowen mimicked his high-pitched voice during the Galway event.

Mr Walton suffers from dysphonia, a neurological condition affecting his voice since childhood.

He said he and his wife felt compelled to write to Brian Cowen to get more details of what exactly had been said by the Taoiseach.

Mr Cowen said Phillip Walton was one of his sporting heroes and he hoped no offence had been taken.

And he pledged to be "a bit more cautious" about how he conducts his social life. "I take responsibility for my end of things and I'll make sure they don't happen again," he said.