Murphy Gary

An insightful, searing and clear-eyed account of Taoiseach Brian Cowen and his time as leader of the country during Ireland's greatest crisis From the author of the bestselling Haughey, Gary Murphy returns with a major reassessment of Ireland's most turbulent political era. In this richly textured account of Brian Cowen's inexorable rise to the office of Taoiseach and his dramatic fall, Murphy offers a ground-breaking portrait of a man and an era that defined modern Ireland. This rigorously researched study examines the decisions, pressures and circumstances that shaped Brian Cowen's 1,036 days as Taoiseach, a period that coincided with the collapse of Ireland's banking system and the state's entry into an EU-IMF programme. Drawing on extensive interviews, documentation and contemporaneous accounts, Murphy explores the context surrounding the bank guarantee, the loss of economic autonomy and the path that led to external intervention. Balanced, detailed and accessible, this book offers a comprehensive analysis of how government, institutions and global forces interacted during a crisis that transformed modern Ireland.

In an age of corruption, sleaze and scandal associated with financial crisis and economic downturn across the globe, citizens want more transparency and accountability in politics. This book examines a principal means by which this can be achieved: the regulation of lobbyists. It provides innovative insights into lobbying regulations across four continents - North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. What are these regulations about? What are the differences across the continents? How effective are the rules? How have they changed the lobbying profession? Using qualitative and quantitative analyses, the book compares and contrasts regulatory laws in the US, Canada, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, the EU, Taiwan and Australia.