George Lee resigns from Fine Gael and as a TD

[nuj]

No indeed not all will fail, but egocentric "I can fix the world" types will. A 10 minute conversation with Lee before he jumped in about how he saw his involvement working out should have made this end a pretty fair bet.

A 10 minute conversation with Tommie Gorman, or many of his RTE "colleagues", prior to Lee's recruitment would have been a good move.

[fionnmccool]

The man had the Dail chamber and parliamentary privilege to get his view across and expose the problems in Irish society. He had the opportunity to oppose the government's economic mismanagement and corruption while being paid for it. He had the opportunity to set a new example for future TDs to follow. If he had any views on any issue then walking away was not the right thing to do.

[anakin]

It appears George hasn't been completely erased from the FG website:
Fine Gael

[tonic]

A 10 minute conversation with Tommie Gorman, or many of his RTE "colleagues", prior to Lee's recruitment would have been a good move.

He was not well thought of in RTE then?

[orbit]

The 20 odd thousand had a right to expect that someone from FG had already had that conversation with Lee and that both parties knew what they were about. In the event they were mistaken, but blameless, don't FG wish they could say the same.

I think you need to distinguish between what they could have done with him after he got elected, and trying to predict how he would react to political life before they even took him on board. The former is where I think mistakes were made, not in the latter.

The chap has been talking to and analysing politicians as part of his job in RTE. I think it's reasonable to think that he knew what he was getting into. He has said several times, he wasn't expecting a front bench portfolio. I don't think he really know what he wants. He keeps saying he wanted an input into policy. That is too vague because the only answer to that would be "of course, you can have an input to policy".

Personally, I think he realised he made a mistake, and that was reinforced by the laissez-faire attitude of the party. Political life wasn't for him after all, but he's not being entirely honest to himself about it.

[Rocky]

I have to say that FG finally got their act together in defending themselves although I reckon it was too late. James Reilly and Mairead McGuinness did really well as people coming from similar backgrounds to George to show that you have to fight for what you get. Particularly Reilly who on VB said that he lobbied hard to be Health spokesperson whereas George Lee did seem to expect it to be handed to him.

Why did FG leave it so late to defend their position? They were totally anonymous throughout the day yesterday as if they were in their foxholes letting the flak fall all round them until Leo Varadkar came on the frontline. Incidentally FG should have put James Reilly on the Frontline with the big audience because his route into politics was more similar to Lee's than Varadkar and he really performed well on VB. If Reilly was on the Frontline I think it would have better for them.

I am impressed with the way FG have turned it around and made Lee's stamina and stomach for a fight outside of the cocoon of RTE the issue using the appropriate people like James Reilly and Mairead McGuninness. But it may well have been too late with the way FG just disappeared it seems throughout the day until late in the evening to defend themselves.

Maybe it just took time to get over the shock and get their heads together.

I missed Leo on the frontline, but I heard he did great and Reilly was fanastic on Vincent Browne. By simply being in Health and making an impact Reilly destroys the impression Lee is trying to create about FG stopping any new people making an impact.

Lee also did himself no favours as the day went on and he was hammered by Vincent Browne. Had he left it at one or two interviews I think FG and Kenny would be a lot weaker then they are right now, but as the day progressed and he failed to deal with one question after another his credability was undermined.

Kenny is going to be on RTE and Newstalk shortly and a lot will depend on that. He is going to have to be a lot better then he was on the Late Late.

[SilverLining]

He was not well thought of in RTE then?

Yesterday, Sean O'Rourke could hardly hold back his laughter when interviewing Boy George. And on the Six One News, David McCullagh was smirking like crazy at the whole joke that has fallen on George. It's like an early April Fools Day prank for RTE. I wouldn't say he has many supporters there. What will they have him do ? Any suggestions ?

Standing in for Marty on Winning Streak
Guest Judge on All Ireland Talent Show
Cookery demonstrator on the Afternoon Show
Makeover project on Off the Rails
Newsreader on RTE2
Late night radio
Barista in canteen

They won't have much choice, as according to VB, he will have to undergo several years of decontamination. So he can't be let near anything political and currently that includes most things of an economic nature. Give him another 9 months, before he has another parting from RTE. Or will he even last that long ?

[dalywise]

Yesterday, Sean O'Rourke could hardly hold back his laughter when interviewing Boy George. And on the Six One News, David McCullagh was smirking like crazy at the whole joke that has fallen on George. It's like an early April Fools Day prank for RTE. I wouldn't say he has many supporters there. What will they have him do ? Any suggestions ?

Standing in for Marty on Winning Streak
Guest Judge on All Ireland Talent Show
Cookery demonstrator on the Afternoon Show
Makeover project on Off the Rails
Newsreader on RTE2
Late night radio
Barista in canteen

They won't have much choice, as according to VB, he will have to undergo several years of decontamination. So he can't be let near anything political and currently that includes most things of an economic nature. Give him another 9 months, before he has another parting from RTE. Or will he even last that long ?

Hold on. How could this be. Kenny, Ryan, Tubridy and several more churn out shows where the pro-FF bias is screaming at you. If George has something nasty to say about FG, he'll be welcomed back with open arms. Place of honour awaits him.

[bob3344]

What will they have him do ? Any suggestions ?

Possibly send him to the states to replace that other moron with delusions of intellectualism - Charlie Bird ?

Poor aul charlie is lonely cos nobody in washington will talk to him.

Honestly, where the fk do RTE get these clowns ? Duffys Circus ?

Lee Seems to be suffering from David McWilliams syndrome - the belief that commenting on past events makes you a guru who should be worshipped.

[Sync]

Yesterday, Sean O'Rourke could hardly hold back his laughter when interviewing Boy George. And on the Six One News, David McCullagh was smirking like crazy at the whole joke that has fallen on George. It's like an early April Fools Day prank for RTE. I wouldn't say he has many supporters there. What will they have him do ? Any suggestions ?

Well those bingo games won't call themselves. I bet he'd fit right into Shirley's old outfit as well to cut costs.