Should George Lee lead a recovery party?

[Chrisco]

Forget this well-intentioned but doomed to failure Amhrán Nua.

What Ireland needs is a National Reform and Recovery Movement, An Páirtí Leasaitheach, to stand on a two plank platform: a coherent economic plan for national recovery, and fundamental reform of the political and constitutional system.

It should have no other policies, and will wind itself up when its agenda has been achieved. Its support of any government is dependent on a radical reform agenda being carried out.

This is the only way it will happen: turkeys will not vote for Christmas, and TDs will not reform the system in a manner that harms their own petty interests, however well-intentioned they may be.

What we need is an anti-politics party; one that clearly says that we are being elected to implement A, B, and C, and if that is done by the next election we will have served our purpose and cease to exist.

A party that will attract people, like George Lee, who want to do something, achieve something in politics (not just getting into power) and then get out.

A party whose raison d'etre is its own demise.

[dicknorris]

Lead a recovery party , first sign on trouble and george would run a mile like he did yesterday, he a joke

[gombeennation]

Of course, we'd all better off if the Dail was packed with Nuclear Scientists and Economists, given that everybody in the country is a Nuclear Scientist or an Economist (albeit not in GL's league).

Heavens forbid that our parliament would actually be representative of the people.

not neccessarily that level of intelligence - but someone higher that the coffin surfing , doffing the cap , pot hole fixer type would be nice.

having the system the way it is now is bad for the country.
its why we are losing 500million euro a week - because exteachers , ex publicans , ex small town lawyers and people who fixe potholes are getting proper votes on big big decisions that they could not possibly comprehend.

i dont want a parliament to be a mirror of ordinary irish people , i want the BEST.
by best i do not mean the best at getting daddys seat when he pops his clogs .... Enda , Biffo , Lenny , Cocklan etc
i mean the best at understanding whats needed.
GL knew what was needed - he wasnt prepared to sit with his thumb up his as.s like EK - he wanted to do something.
it was clear in the current system populated by the above that this was not going to happen.

[Baron von Biffo]

Of course he wasn't in it for the glamour. He was in it because he thought he was smarter than everybody else, and when everybody else didn't acknowledge this, he left.

More than a hint of truth in that I suspect.

[Baron von Biffo]

yeah , maybe you are right on that!
sitting with his group , jam packed with ex teachers , publicans and small time lawyers probably helped boost his ego.

A journalist is a step up from teacher, publican or lawyer?

[gombeennation]

A journalist is a step up from teacher, publican or lawyer?

well first off hes not a career politician.
teacher - EK been in it for 35 years - prime example.
publican - biffo been in the gombeenarchy for decades.
lawyer - lennys the same.

all the above coffin surfers .
note , i am not saying GL is the correct answer 100% - but the above are defo the wrong answer.
want proof? -500million euro a week is what ireland is losing.

this country is teacher/publican/lawyer run.
this is the problem.
people who know fk all have big votes on things they cant understand.
people will vote for them because they can get a medicard which you would be entitled to - will get you a house you are entitled to , or fix your pothole ( which u have paid for via motor tax ).
once they do that , the layGombeen (tm) will back you to the hilt.
the system is broken

[Limerick Lad]

George Lee keeps claiming he has the answers to Ireland's current economic difficulties, yet during the period he claims to have been left out in the cold why didn't he produce a report on how he saw things, where Government policies were failing or incorrect and how Fine Gael could change it's policies to persuade the electorate that they along with his solutions could turn things around.

[Baron von Biffo]

well first off hes not a career politician.

This always baffles me. If I'm sick I want a career doctor not the medical correspondent of a newspaper to treat me. Is politics the only profession where those who chose it as a career are deemed to be inferior to dabblers?

[Pauli]

Of course, we'd all better off if the Dail was packed with Nuclear Scientists and Economists, given that everybody in the country is a Nuclear Scientist or an Economist (albeit not in GL's league).

Heavens forbid that our parliament would actually be representative of the people.

You seem to be in thrall to the primary teachers, piss peddlars and "family seat" occupiers we have now. Some people aspire to something higher than this banal mediocrity.

[Murra]

Hack what? doing the mind numbing chair for committees?
Yes I think we can agree that he could not hack doing that - only creepy crawly career politicians could hack that indefinitely.

Why did he run? He was under the impression that his skills would be utilised to make ireland a better place.
he might have suspected what he was getting into was a old boys club where you had to do your time before you were allowed to play properly - he decided to give it a go - then he found out for sure , it was actually worse then he could possibly imagine.
took the honorable route and quit.
most fine gombeens would do that job for 20 years if it meant a perk at the end of it - hence the shock from those very same gombeens.


I kinda agree - there is no point getting someone in who is expecting to contribute , expecting to get things done. there is NO ROOM for that type of person in irish politics.
in order to climb the ladder you must be willing to demonstrate that you are willing to do the sillyest job for the longest time.
only then can you attain the nirvana - a clarity that only comes through sitting on 1000 commitees.


I think he expected to have some input on the economic policy of FG.
Not be the MoF , not be taosieach - just have some input.
We know we are fked , he wanted to have some input into the best way to slightly unfk ourselves.



What would that achieve? ok to the run of the mill gombeen , thats exactly the route to take. mouth off , keep your seat , worm your way thru and election or two. get your pension , get your perks.
this doesnt work with non gombeens tho - that why he did the honorable thing and quit the seat.
if he had held onto the seat he would fall into the gombeen zone.
well done GL.



im not sure he was after glamour - if he was , how do you explain turning down the front bench?



I agree that RTE is a cash cow to many many many over paid a-holes.
thats not GLs fault tho.
take that up with FF - they pay the wages.

One might assume (in hindsight,incorrectly) that he ran for election as a TD, to represent those who voted for him. Ok, his expertise might be in economics, but there is more to being a TD than one single issue. Today the concern is with the country's finances, tomorrow it will be Health, the day after Education and so forth. What does George Lee know about these things, or indeed the potholes on the roads or the rezonings that have caused misery to peoples lives, or the ineptitudes in the social services which affect the homeless or immigrant children. You might call this 'parish pump' politics, but these are real issues, for real people. A 'Career Politician' knows (or should know) how things work from the ground up. George Lee is of feck all use to those who elected him now, isn't he?

At least he has the comfort of the €15k Goodbye money, and his €150k job with RTE to cushion his fall.