Mature recollection

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RTÉ's Six-One main evening news bulletin, where "mature recollection" was first used by a politician in controversial circumstances.

The phrase on mature recollection entered the Irish political lexicon when on 31 October 1990 then Tánaiste and presidential candidate Brian Lenihan repeatedly used it in what was perceived to have been a disastrous live television interview on RTÉ's Six One news bulletin. In response to a crisis in his campaign, in which he had been found to have been giving two diametrically conflicting versions of a political event, Lenihan stared into the camera to assure viewers repeatedly that "on mature recollection" his most recent version of events, and not the earlier one, was correct. (Lenihan subsequently lost the election.)

The phrase is now generally used in Ireland to refer to efforts by someone to think up an excuse where the excuse conflicts with their original version of events and whether true or untrue is generally not believed, with people presuming that the earlier version was more honest. An alternative variant with the same meaning is "on mature reflection".