The long haul

Posted on February 09, 2010 at 11:42 PM

What do I think about the resignation of George Lee from the Dail?

I think it is a pity. If he stuck around he could have made a good contribution.  I felt he was making an impression and would have expected him to grow into the role of TD.  I was very impressed when I was shown a leaflet from George about the budget that was handed to someone I know getting off the LUAS in his constituency on the evening of the Budget.  I thought from this leaflet that he would give his Fine Gael constituency Dail colleagues a run for their money in terms of his work on the ground before the next election.

I think maybe in retrospect that he was being left a bit out on his own by Fine Gael. That’s the talk around Leinster House.  Fine Gael is partly at fault if that was the case.  There seems to have been a lack of communication between George and the Fine Gael leadership. However I think it was a huge step to take to resign such a short time after being elected and elected on such a tide of support.  He should have given it more time, having given Fine Gael an ultimatum, if it was really about having more of a say in party policy.  It seems they were prepared to do something and he would have got a front bench position if he had stayed this week.  He said it was too late but I think that is a bit harsh considering he was only there for 8 months including the summer and Christmas recess.  

TDs carve out their own niche just as George carved out his niche in RTE and will most certainly do again when he returns to his job as a broadcaster.  But there are lessons. Parties need to give more say to their Oireachtas members and not spring policies on them without consultation.  Parties cannot lecture about the need for democracy and participation if they don’t practice it themselves. The Dail needs to run its business to give more opportunities for TDs to raise issues of concern to their constituents. The opposition and Government could agree new standing orders tomorrow that would make that happen.

I think at the end of the day the reason he resigned is more to do with him not being happy in the job.   He could have contributed a lot if he had stayed but there is no shortage of TDs or would be TDs that can contribute something worthwhile to politics. It can be a long haul and this may have been the aspect that George was not prepared for when he had such a whirlwind election to the Dail.

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