Minister for Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen; European Commission member Viviane Reding and Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy, at the inaugural meeting of the Irish Presidendy of the EU in 2004.

The two Irish ministers for finance who presided over the second period of monumental economic mismanagement, in the history of the Irish State in effect, today told the tens of thousands of victims of their recklessness, to go to hell. Taoiseach Brian Cowen rejected suggestions that he should apologise for his handling of the economy when he was minister for finance, while his predecessor Charlie McCreevy, now European commissioner for the internal market, said the economy was light years ahead of the"dark 70s and 80s."

Both men were part of the group which was responsible for destroying the best chance Ireland ever had, to put its economy on a sustainable basis for the long-term.

McCreevy was elected to the Dáil in 1977 - - an election that resulted in economic ruin for the subsequent ten years. The IMF's report this week with its devastating indictment of the mismanagement during the property boom, also showed that in 1978, Ireland had a budget deficit of 17.8% of GDP. So the attempt to claim the current economic wreckage is not as bad as past decades is a ruse to avoid political responsibility for both periods of economic ruination.

McCreevy told a breakfast meeting of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) that Ireland and the rest of Europe will emerge stronger and better prepared for the future.

He accepted no responsibility for his ruinous policies, which left Ireland so unprepared for a recession.

There were no apologies either for the sham benchmarking average increase of public salaries and pensions by 9% or the Tammany Hall-style decentralisation plan.

Irish Economy: IMF says Irish banks face losses of €35 billion by end 2010 - - 20% of GDP; "Modestly-paced recovery" after 2010; "Decline in wages will need to be sustained"

Irish Economy: The 2001 economic consensus that paved the road to economic ruin

The ICAI presented its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award to Charlie McCreevy FCA in December 2006 - - the peak year of the out-of-control property boom.

Commenting ICAI President, Martin Wilson, who presented the award to the commissioner, said: “There will be many Chartered Accountants who deserve such an award but few will have had the impact on public and business life as Charlie McCreevy first as Minister for Finance and now as European Commissioner.

Having qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1973 and Mr McCreevy’s wheel has now turned full circle as the European 'supremo' for accounting, auditing and corporate governance issues.

As Minister for Finance he presided over a period of historic prosperity. He has always spoken his mind and few doubted his candour. He is an exemplary Chartered Accountant and a worthy first recipient of this new award.”

Speaking to RTÉ's News at One, Brain Cowen said he stood over the decisions he made.

Asked about the IMF, Cowen said that a lot of money was available at the time the economy was growing, and that the context for decisions taken by the Government at the time must be taken into account.

Context?

It wasn't just that the economy was overheating but oil was poured on the fire.

Cowen said the changes in the economic situation had been so radical that, at this time last year, the IMF was predicting 3% growth in the Irish economy, but was now forecasting a contraction of 8-9%.

Asked about the institutions within the remit of NAMA, and the IMF suggestion that nationalisation might be pursued, Cowen said that "the strong view of Government" was that keeping them available in the private sector was important.

"It is not an ideological point," he said. "Protecting the tax payer is the huge part of this."

The Taoiseach said that the possibility that NAMA would not be restricted to property development loans - as suggested by the IMF - "will get due consideration."