Lee – a loss to Irish politics?

I DIDN’T think I’d be back so soon talking about Enda Kenny’s leadership of Fine Gael, having dealt with that matter here only a few weeks ago.
But George Lee’s sudden and shock departure from Fine Gael and the Dáil, only eight months after his election, raises the question once more.
I have been listening to politicians from all sides – Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Labour and the rest – telling us that George Lee was not cut out for politics. That he couldn’t hack it and that he should have stayed where he was at RTÉ.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Perhaps they are right. But l believe he is a terrible loss to Irish politics and that he probably would have had a lot to contribute.
But I can understand him and I understand his motives for entering politics and for leaving it so soon afterwards.
He was wasting his time in the Dáil. And the vast majority of members of that exclusive club are wasters.
They cannot all be blamed for that. That is the system we, the public, want.
It is of far more importance to us that our TDs attend funerals and pub openings than that they concentrate on improving legislation.
And we have opposition for opposition sake.  Everything the government of the day does must be attacked whether it is necessary or not.
I never tire of telling my readers that I spent the best part of 30 years covering the proceedings of Dáil Éireann for The Irish Independent. That is not a boast and no self-respecting reporter would shout too loudly about surviving such a life sentence. I am merely pointing out that I have certain qualifications to be able to speak about such matters having had a ringside seat for so long at the forum for political play-acting that passes for democracy.
It is obvious that George Lee had had enough. He was too honest to stick it any longer. He just couldn’t hack it.
All parties engage in the same kind of antics that put seat and party far ahead of country. But TDs will not be re-elected if they do not play the same ball. Of course, there have been exceptions but there are exceptions to every rule. 
I am not saying that politicians are crooks. They work hard but most of the work they do inside and outside the Dáil is useless. They must know that themselves but they have no choice.
You never hear a debate in the Dáil. What you get are ministers and TDs reading from prepared scripts which follow the party line and which nobody listens to.
For as long as I can remember, we have been promised radical Dáil reform. It’s not going to happen. Turkeys do not vote for Christmas.
I have heard people say that if George Lee had joined Fianna Fáil, they would have known how to look after him. But don’t believe a word of it. The same would have happened him as happened in Fine Gael. There is no difference between the parties apart from the fact that some are big and others are small.
There were too many in Fine Gael – as there would be in Fianna Fáil – who were afraid of George Lee, afraid that he was going to step into the shoes they had picked out for themselves.
I have heard Fine Gael politicians say during the week that it was up to George Lee himself to make a go of it within the Dáil and within the party. I presume they wanted him to be like themselves and play the political tunes they composed for him. Obviously, George Lee couldn’t take it any longer and instead of fighting a battle, he couldn’t possibly win, he walked.
While Fine Gael TDs have spent the last few days closing ranks and rallying around the party leader, it is obvious that both the party and the leader have been damaged.
I even heard Fine Gael MEP Mairéad McGuinness saying that the party would be strengthened by the manner of George Lee’s departure. What a load of codswallop! George Lee was a prize recruit to the party’s ranks nine months ago. He was the glamour boy every party would have wished for.
We knew the byelection in South Dublin was over once it was announced that George Lee would be the Fine Gael candidate. But not alone that. Having Lee on the team was a major factor in Fine Gael’s success all over the country at the European and local elections last June.
But having reeled him in, they have let him slip through their fingers so soon afterwards.
The buck stops with Enda Kenny. He is the leader. He was praised for having caught George Lee. Now that he has lost him, he must take the blame. Belatedly offering Lee a front-bench position as he was leaving Fine Gael was a sign of panic rather than of sound leadership.
This does not mean that Enda Kenny will be forced to resign sooner or later. The fact that for the first time in its history, Fine Gael is now the biggest party outside the Dáil and set to be the biggest party inside will always be argued in his favour. But he has nothing else going for him apart from being a likeable person.
There were rumblings about his leadership within Fine Gael before ever George Lee made his departure. Those rumblings will intensify but whether they come to anything in the end is another matter. But if the next opinion poll shows Fianna Fáil further narrowing the gap with Fine Gael then Enda Kenny will be in real trouble. But that may not happen.
In the meantime, Fianna Fáil will be hoping that Fine Gael will hold onto Enda Kenny. They feel he will be an easier leader to fight than any of a number of other potential leaders. 
Just as Fine Gael will be hoping Fianna Fáil hold onto Brian Cowen.