George Lee resigns from Fine Gael and as a TD

[hiding behind a poster]

How many times has Kenny brought Fine Gael into Gov't since he became leader?

With respect, that's a fairly stupid statement. There's been ONE general election, and FG under Kenny gained 20 seats, getting to within 3 seats of forming a government, despite neither Labour nor the Greens gaining even one seat. Indeed no other party has gained even one Dail seat between them since Enda Kenny became leader.

[Limerick Lad]

I admire George for taking a risk. Not normally associated with someone in a Public Service job... I agree that the RTE bunch seem to regale him as if he had done somthing unusual.

Seems in RTE that you get the star treatment if you are part of the furniture. However, I think George has gone beyond the norm and shown us all that we can individually make a difference by breaking the mould..

What risk did George Lee really take, he had right of return to RTE to a position of commensurate salary and seniority with the job he "sacrificed" with all the pension rights that entails or he could have remained as a TD probably likely to become a Minister in the next Government with the exorbitant salary and pension rights attaining such a position insures.

[Pabilito]

What risk did George Lee really take, he had right of return to RTE to a position of commensurate salary and seniority with the job he "sacrificed" with all the pension rights that entails or he could have remained as a TD probably likely to become a Minister in the next Government with the exorbitant salary and pension rights attaining such a position insures.

True.

[gatsbygirl20]

Having been out of the country since last Thursday (and thank you to those who showed such concern as to my whereabouts), there I was enjoying a nice getaway, until my phone started to combust around lunchtime yesterday. So anyway, rather than read through 1,300 posts, this is my opinion:..............

So there's no good way of looking at that side of it. Having said that, the whole affair tells us something about Lee - namely that, with an attitude like that to the people around him, he'd be a disaster either on the front bench or in Cabinet. And that would even apply to a majority government - because like all teams, cabinets and front benches have to take decisions, with varying levels of agreement or enthusiasm amongst its members. If Lee is gonna flounce out every time his view isn't automatically accepted as the only one, then he won't go far in any team-orientated environment. So while Lee would have been a great asset in getting us to government, he could have been a right pain when we got there. ....................

Finally, I noticed on an early page of this thread (before I'd decided that life's too short to read 1,300 posts) that some posters were claiming that this whole thing shows that FG are just a time-servers party - that you put in your years, you don't rock the boat, and eventually, "when its your turn", you get onto the front bench. And that thus, FG were unable to handle someone with talent who wasn't gonna hang around.[B] And quite frankly, thats boll0cks. If it was true, then the front bench would include PJ Sheehan, Paul Connaughton, Padraig McCormack and John Perry, while there'd be no Leo Varadkar, Olwyn Enright, Brian Hayes or Simon Coveney on it. There's also a notion that somehow businesses are so much better at promoting people than political parties, but its a false notion. Businesses are in a position to headhunt people who are already a proven success in the field that business operates in, and obviously they then put them where their talents are best deployed. But NO-ONE gets promoted to the board on their first day on the basis of their exam results, or what they said in the interview. And Lee, while proven in one area, was new to another one, and thus needed to time to [/B]find his feet. That was shown with his suicidal PQ that he almost asked, about the potential savings in chopping 10 weeks off maternity leave. It doesn't matter how good you are, or how much conviction you have, if you do things that are just plain stupid, you won't get anywhere. And that was. That kind of thing, if produced by a potential minister during an election campaign, would be a seat-loser with bells on - and without the seats to be in power, you can't use your talents in the service of the people. So taking a bit of time to learn the basics of your new job, before insisting you should decide company strategy, isn't always such a bad thing..............

.

Lot of sense and wisdom there.

[Pabilito]

Lot of sense and wisdom there.

George Lee stood up as an individual which in Irish politics is an affront,

Your not supposed to do that here in Paddy land. your supposed to serve your time as a tea boy before speaking to the adults. Shame on him.

[Chrisco]

Just one last point - on the flight home today, I nearly fell out of my seat when I heard that the pilot in command was..... Captain Mike Noonan. Honestly. Of all days. I swear that happened. If you don't believe me, ask Aer Lingus.....

But not an omen, I hope.

If it had been an omen your plane would have crashed...

[SirCharles]

Two things fell into my mind:

1. George Lee has let down all his voters keeping faith with him.

2. The boy hasn't got the lollipop he wanted.

If it's right that you have to be reckless, heavy-handed, to become a steady politician, then he was in the wrong place anyhow.

[FutureTaoiseach]

The reason the media are saying this damages Enda Kenny is that they are closet-Labour supporters who want to impose their leftwing-pinko, Big Government, tax-and-spend Socialist agenda on the Irish people. They don't want FF but neither do they want FG. Note how former RTE personalities Alex White and Orla Guerin ran for Labour. They also want Richard Bruton to take over because of his views on voting rights for non-citizens. I know what's going on. They want to further the cause Political-Correctness in Irish politics.

[hiding behind a poster]

The reason the media are saying this damages Enda Kenny is that they are closet-Labour supporters who want to impose their leftwing-pinko, Big Government, tax-and-spend Socialist agenda on the Irish people. They don't want FF but neither do they want FG.

Seriously FT, give it a rest. THis continued obsession of yours is getting grating.

Note how former RTE personalities Alex White and Orla Guerin ran for Labour. They also want Richard Bruton to take over because of his views on voting rights for non-citizens. I know what's going on.

No, you don't. You haven't a clue, in fact. And you're still convinced that because you think something, everyone else thinks it too. In several years of canvassing, no-one I've spoken to has EVER used the phrases "tax and spend", "big government", etc to me. Regardless of their political views. And if you asked 10,000 Irish people to describe Richard Bruton's views on voting rights for non-citizens, you might get something vaguely coherent from 0.0001% of them, while the most common response from the other 99.9999% would be "eh, what?" If you tried leaving your computer, joining a political party, and actually speaking with real people instead of the self-aggrandising fruitloops that you share the so-called "blogosphere" with, you'd find that out.

And you'd be way better informed as a result.

[dotski_w_]

Seriously FT, give it a rest. THis continued obsession of yours is getting grating.



No, you don't. You haven't a clue, in fact. And you're still convinced that because you think something, everyone else thinks it too. In several years of canvassing, no-one I've spoken to has EVER used the phrases "tax and spend", "big government", etc to me. Regardless of their political views. And if you asked 10,000 Irish people to describe Richard Bruton's views on voting rights for non-citizens, you might get something vaguely coherent from 0.0001% of them, while the most common response from the other 99.9999% would be "eh, what?" If you tried leaving your computer, joining a political party, and actually speaking with real people instead of the self-aggrandising fruitloops that you share the so-called "blogosphere" with, you'd find that out.

And you'd be way better informed as a result.

+10

Am I the only person who worries about the mental health of someone whose posts are just a long string of pejorative buzz words and phrases, and who presumes to speak for the Irish people in all his posts?

On a side issue, sorry, I don't want to trawl through 1,300 posts, but is it actually true that Lee tried to table a PQ on the savings from cutting maternity Benefit by 10 weeks??!

I'd like to see him spin himself out of that one ....