George Lee resigns from Fine Gael and as a TD

[absconded]

Rubbish its a tantrum by a man too used to the limelight.... did he seriously expect his journalism career gave him some superiority, that because he viewed himself as a celeb he should shoot up the ranks over the heads of those that have been doing the hard graft for years.... After 9 Months...ffs... probably given Irish journo's arrogance

Im no FG fan but here I think they've been shafted by an enormous and pompous ego, and i'll bet there a few local canvassers in Dublin South seething at having slogged through the rain to get this man elected only to see their hard work blown by a strop

As someone said earlier, 9 months these days is an eternity in politics.
And in another 9 months brother there won´t be an economy. Politicians, especialy career politicians and party hacks are slow to grasp whats happening. It´s not about camp followers anymore. And canvassers aren´t the electorate unless they vote "early & often" that is.
The game is nearly over for this country and if swift action won´t be taken by our representatives, he´s better washing his hands of them. A possibly patriotic and certainly honest move by Lee.

[renegade]

By bringing Lee on board FG were signalling that the time for politics as usual was past. At a time of national crisis they would do the unconventional for the good of the country. Lee's resignation sends a signal that EK is more of the same. It shatters the argument of his supporters that Kenny is a great team leader. EK is on the precipice of losing control of his narrative and of being defined by his opponents. If that happens, this will not be forgotten in a week; it will linger and eat away at his selling point until there's nothing left.

[Johnjoe1986]

It is a shame that George Lee has left Fine Gael and the Dail; nonetheless, it may be important to consider that he just may not like the job. It is a dirty enough job compared to his economics/journalism career path and he might have lost his motivation as a result.

[Gadjodilo]

Enda Kenny doesn't do radical; nor does FG at the moment. Hopefully, this will be a huge kick up the ass for them. They still have time to recover from this but they need to act fast and the first step has to involve dumping Inda.

Fine Gael's golden age was back in the 80s when they were leading the social agenda. They can find that pioneering spirit again - this time by offering an real alternative** to FF with regard to economics.

** rather than just reacting to Fianna Fáil and criticising.

[Emerald Green]

This reflects badly on RTE as well in that, firstly, it is obviously so completely overstaffed that it can let its employees head off on career breaks for as long as they want to sample other careers and, secondly, it is obviously providing its employees with such a cosy and protected number that they immediately run back into daddy's arms when things go wrong for them in the big bad world. And we're paying for this.

Lee should not have resigned his seat, but he was honourable for quitting FG. Let's hope he puts his experience of the inside to good use.

I expect to see Kenny gone by Easter.

[reknaw]

The moral of the story seems to be: "If at first you don't succeed - quit!"

Personally, I always thought Lee was another big white Messiah that the Blueshirts had hyped up to the point of total incredibility. Now we see that it took him a whole nine months to realise he wouldn't change the culture of the Blueshirts, much less of gombeen-ridden Ireland as a whole. So he threw his rattle out of the pram.

Big deal!:mrgreen:

[Delarivier]

Life as a TD in Ireland involves lots of constitutency work, endless meetings every night where you have to buy everyone a drink afterwards and stay out being social till 11 pm at least. As a backbench TD your job is to be lobby fodder and hang on to your seat for dear life. Doesn't matter what party you're in. It's the system. Not a good system, I agree, but unless the entire political structure is overhauled, that's the way it is.

Pity George wasn't told that _before_ he agreed to run for election...doubt the FGers in Dublin South are happy! Another by-election...noooooo.....

[Edo]

Speechless

George Lee - economist - broadcaster - politician - suicide bomber

I would have said that kamikaze - but even the japs managed to take out the otherside when going down in flames.

Cheers George - it was real - best of luck in the future while we try and scrape the remains of the party off the wall - hope the 72 virgins are worth it.

Hell - well I wasnt going to go the Ard-fheis orginally - Im going now - should be the liveliest its been in years

[west'sawake]

As someone said earlier, 9 months these days is an eternity in politics.
And in another 9 months brother there won´t be an economy. Politicians, especialy career politicians and party hacks are slow to grasp whats happening. It´s not about camp followers anymore. And canvassers aren´t the electorate unless they vote "early & often" that is.
The game is nearly over for this country and if swift action won´t be taken by our representatives, he´s better washing his hands of them. A possibly patriotic and certainly honest move by Lee.

Good post, I'm inclined to agree, and give him the benefit of the doubt re ego, petulance, etc. These are different times, the same old same old just won't do anymore, radical surgery in a hurry is needed, and he was one of the few in a hurry to the point that he was no longer prepared to take take schilling, the comfort zone and the perks, that I think says something, I think he had conviction and yes self belief, George was most definitely not one for the crowded centre, nor should FG.

[Gadjodilo]

The moral of the story seems to be: "If at first you don't succeed - quit!"

Personally, I always thought Lee was another big white Messiah that the Blueshirts had hyped up to the point of total incredibility. Now we see that it took him a whole nine months to realise he wouldn't change the culture of the Blueshirts, much less of gombeen-ridden Ireland as a whole. So he threw his rattle out of the pram.

Big deal!:mrgreen:

It's better to remove himself from it than become part of the problem. Why the hell did FG parachute him in if they weren't going to use his brains?