Southern retreat

Brian Cowen was rumoured to be less keen on Fianna Fail expanding north Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said there is no imminent possibility of his Fianna Fáil party organising in Northern Ireland. His remarks are seen by many as putting the idea on the backburner, but the idea was never really on the front-burner. Even before Mr Cowen took over from Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader, there was speculation he was less keen than his predecessor on the idea of his party organising in Northern Ireland. This assumed that Mr Ahern was the main man pushing for Fianna Fáil, which translates as the Soldiers of Destiny, marching north. But I suspect it was never the case. In a BBC interview shortly after he announced his intention to quit as Taoiseach but before he left office, he advised his party "to be careful" about not... [read full story]