Irish prime minister 'ruled country from a bar stool' as Celtic Tiger turned into euro basket case (and left the British taxpayer with a £7.5bn bill)

• Taoiseach Brian Cowen 'would drink all evening in Irish Parliament pub'
  
• Late Finance Minister hampered in attempts to prevent bail-out 'because he wasn't part of drinking circle'
• 'Everybody thought that when he became Taoiseach he’d stop drinking, but he actually didn't'

By James White for MailOnline
Updated: 09:26 EDT, 25 October 2011

Allegations: Ireland's former Taoiseach Brian Cowen was said to have made important decisions while socialising with other politicians in the Irish Parliament bar

The former Irish Prime Minister made critical decisions about the country's collapsing economy 'on the hoof' while drinking in a Dublin bar, a controversial new book claims.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen is accused of hampering the late Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan's attempts to prevent the collapse of Ireland's finances.

The book also contains graphic descriptions of how the 'bar lobby' and a party of what is described as 'drinking buddies' would fetch pints for Mr Cowen and 'fill him up' while he made key decisions about the Irish economy.

When the Irish economy finally collapsed last November Europe and the IMF came to its aid with an €85billion rescue deal.

Britain contributed £7.5billion to rescue the so-called Celtic Tiger, costing every family £288.

One source quoted in the book said of Cowen 'Jesus... he certainly drank an awful lot. Everybody thought that when he became Taoiseach he’d stop, but he actually didn’t.'

However, some ministers who worked alongside him have rejected the claim, that was one of a number leaked over the weekend ahead of the book's release.

It is claimed that Mr Lenihan's career was stalled because he was not part of the Irish leadership's infamous drinking circle, leading to mutual distrust at key times.

Among the most wild allegations apparently made in the book, it is claimed Mr Cowen and drinking pals would retreat to a cottage on the Farmleigh Estate - the country's state guest house for foreign dignitaries - to carry on drinking.

'Bar lobby': Former Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen is accused of making decisions while in the bar, while excluding late Finance Minister Brian Lenihan (pictured)

The book, written by award-winning political columnist Bruce Arnold and journalist Jason O'Toole, is the first account of the simultaneous collapses of Ireland's former leading party and its economy. 

It says that the relationship between Mr Cowen and Mr Lenihan turned into an 'unholy union' of two politicians who were 'distrustful of each other' that only got worse under the pressure of economic collapse.

The title reveals the astonishing way in which a culture of hard drinking at the Irish Parliament bar took over the party to such an extent that Mr Lenihan's non-membership of the infamous 'bar lobby' damaged his relationship with Mr Cowen.

In the book, Mary O'Rourke notes that she didn't think 'Cowen went on benders, I just think he drank steadily -- not during the day... no, no, no, in the evening time when he'd be finished in the Dail'.

It is also revealed that Mr Lenihan - who was battling pancreatic cancer throughout the critical period and died of the disease in June - went to Mr Cowen in September 2010 and pleaded with him to call an early election because he feared Ireland was going to be bullied into accepting a bail-out.

Fianna Fail suffered humiliation at the polls in February when they lost the country's general election.

The authors state that Mr Lenihan fought hard against Mr Cowen's addiction to 'social partnership' and that his attempts to rescue the economy were stymied by what he increasingly perceived to be 'a Taoiseach who was a bit of a softie when it came to tough decisions'.

Drinking culture: Brian Cowen would drink at the Dail bar inside the Irish Parliament in Dubli, the book claims

It also paints a series of poignant portraits of Mr Lenihan as a man alone who even mistrusted his civil servants and reveals that his battle with cancer played a critical role in his decision not to engage with Mr Cowen.

Sources close to the former finance minister have revealed for the first time that he was 'devastated' by having just two hours to tell his children he had pancreatic cancer before Irish television channel TV3 made the news public, it was reported in the Irish Independent.

'He said he only had two hours to tell the kids -- he was devastated by that. He never let the outside world know it, but it hurt him very badly,' one source told the Irish Independent.

Claims: The allegations are made in this new book to be published next week

During his treatment, it has emerged that Mr Lenihan regularly returned to work in his department and the Dail minutes after concluding his chemotherapy, rather than returning home to rest.

In some of the most revealing testimony to date about his struggle with cancer, friends and political allies of Mr Lenihan have told how he fought  chronic pain and extreme tiredness while tackling the country's financial woes.

Cowen, who was previously the nation's Finance Minister, was earlier this year accused of doing nothing to avert the impending financial crisis in the 18 months before he was made Prime Minister.

Britain was forced to step in to help save the Irish economy from collapse in November last year because state-backed banks were exposed to more than £100billion in terms of debt and Irish sovereign bond purchases.

It was argued at the time that as well as the damaging levels of bank exposure, Ireland, as Britain's fifth-biggest trading partner, could not be allowed to sink into financial catastrophe.

Current Finance Minister Michael Noonan said he believed Cowen avoided taking necessary action because it could have damaged his career.

Mr Noonan said: 'I would think the calculation was that if he had acted when he knew how bad it was, he wouldn’t have become Taoiseach.

'He would have lost his support base within the party. So I blame him for that. Because he’s a very intelligent guy, Cowen is.'