Word: cowens
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Brian Cowen's first full day as Ireland's new Taoiseach (Prime Minister) this week found him on the hoof - lunching with his British counterpart, Gordon Brown, and donning a tux to schmooze U.S. investors at a grand Georgian mansion on the outskirts of Belfast. It was an elegant turn that belied Cowen's long-standing nickname: Biffo...
...name evokes a heavyweight political bruiser just by its sound, but Biffo is also an acronym: it stands for Big Ignorant F*** From Offaly, the county in the Irish midlands where Cowen was born and which he still represents in the country's parliament. The moniker isn't meant to suggest the new Irish Prime Minister is stupid, because his allies and enemies know that he isn't. Ignorant is rather taken in an Irish sense of the word: ill-mannered, rough, in your face...
...with a turn of dry wit that undermines that image, Mr Cowen insists that he's only ever understood the name to stand for Big Intelligent Fella From Offaly. He's now got the chance to prove his version is right...
...Cowen has the credentials for high office. A lawyer by trade, he served in five Cabinet posts, has a reputation for razor-sharp intelligence and is widely credited within Fianna Fail for having been the chief architect of the crafty election campaign that surprised pundits and gave Ahern his third successive term last year...
...transition may not be an easy one. Cowen takes charge in anxious economic times, and like Brown, he could suffer from being rather less charismatic than his predecessor. Whereas Ahern loved working the crowds, Cowen has built his reputation as a backroom politician. "He likes a smoke, which you don't see from a lot of politicians these days," says a government official who used to work for him. "And he's not the sort of politician who can't walk past a camera. He's almost indifferent to the media. It'll be interesting to see if anyone tries...