Bertie Ahern’s comments leave Brian Cowen isolated

Read more: Bertie Ahern attacks his succesor, Brian Cowen, over economy

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen had only one Fianna Fail figure come to his defense on Sunday following former Prime Minister Bertie Ahern’s attack in the News of the World.

There was a noticeable lack of Fianna Fail members willing to back their party leader. The only political figure to stand up for Mr Cowen was the Defense Minister Tony Killeen who described his attack as a “little unfair”.

The Irish Independent reported that two Fianna Fail TDs declined to comment. One said that Bertie Ahern was simply reflecting what the media had been saying for years about Brian Cowen.

Another TD said that what Mr Ahern had said was out of order but that he wanted to put the story to bed by making no comment on it.

Peter Kelly, Fianna Fail Longford-Westmeath TD, said Mr Cowen had not managed to show how hard he had been workingdue to a failure in communications.

Galway East TD, Michael Kitt, said that Mr Cowen had a different style to Mr Ahern but that he found it unfair to single out one person for all the Government’s mistakes. He also dismissed Mr Ahern’s claims that no one had told him about the banking crisis. Kitt said “he didn’t want to hear”.

Mr Cowen could not be contacted for comment.