The resignation of George Lee TD from FG and from the Dail is certainly a political bombshell. Undoubtedly Lee had an exceptional record as a economic analyst at RTE. He is viewed by many as a semigod. However it is one thing to be an analyst it is quite another to put forward coherent solutions.
His resignation raises many questions which have not been satisfactorily answered by the former TD.
He claims to have been largely excluded from the formulation of economic policy by FG. This is a lame excuse. At RTE Lee was never slow to blow his trumpet and articulate the populist option. He could have prepared economic policy positions and placed them before the Parliamentary Party. This he singularly failed to do. In actual fact he came up with no original ideas to tackle the current economic crisis.
It is an open secret that an FG reshuffle was on the cards after the anticipated cabinet reshuffle. George Lee would undoubtedly been drafted onto the FG frontbench. Here he could further influence economic policy of the party.
Today he claimed that he did not seek promotion to the front bench. Rather that he wanted to influence party policy. This is nonsensical. Any politician serious about influencing policy would jump at the offer of a front bench position.
He said "I cant wait for the economy to be fixed". He had a Dail seat which offered him huge potential if used correctly to influence policy. Yet he quit. So to hell with the country as far as George is concerned.
George has thrown away a glorious opportunity to make a worthwhile contribution to this country's recovery from the economic crisis. To resign after eight months is an act of cowardice. George Lee has left the voters of Dublin South high and dry.
I now await George's solutions to Ireland's economic crisis.
The FG party needs to ignore the snide remarks of smart alecs such as Olivia O'Leary who labelled the party as losers. This particular lady though from an FG background never has a good word to say about the party. Incidentally when challenged by Alan Dukes on RTEs Drivetime programme, O'Leary came off second best and showed her ignorance of the realities of parliamentary party politics. Olivia like George likes to play the populist card.
Snappy opinion pieces on RTE from Olivia O'Leary are no substitute for the realities of Dail politics. Olivia needs to go back to school.
The following is a story Marija told:
