Mr. Fintan Drury:

I mean, my relationship with Brian Cowen was the same as the kind of relationship I have with some other friends, so ... we talk about ... when we meet ... less regularly, unfortunately, more recently, we meet, we talk about our lives, what's going on in our lives. One of the refreshing things about Brian Cowen, having worked with, as a consultant ... and it's probably important to put it on the record, having worked as a consultant with politicians from Fine Gael and the Labour Party over many years, in just as intense a manner in which I did with Brian Cowen or ... when he was Minister. The relationship with Brian Cowen was such that we ... we talked about everything. We talked about, you know ... except things that were, as far as I was concerned, and he was concerned, off limits. And I've already made that point very clear, I think, to the committee. So the discussions we'd have had would have been about family, would have been about sport. One of the refreshing things about Brian Cowen, he was one of the few people in politics - and I'm conscious of where I am - who was as interested in my life and interested in my work as I was in his. And so it was a very natural, normal relationship.