TDs stunned at Lee exit

Both Clare Fine Gael TDs, Pat Breen and Joe Carey, have expressed shock at George Lee’s departure from Fine Gael and resignation from Dáil Éireann.
In fact, Mr Lee’s final official function on behalf of Fine Gael, before he resigned on Monday, was to attend the Kilrush Chamber dinner dance last Friday, following a request from Deputy Breen.
Stating that he was close to Mr Lee having sat together in the Dáil chamber, the Ballynacally TD believes his former party colleague was frustrated with the slow nature of political life in Leinster House.
“He could never understand why the Order of Business took an hour and a half at times. He felt that all this should have been done much quicker. I think he found the whole political system strange and difficult to comprehend,” Deputy Breen told The Clare Champion.
“You could have two votes on the same item and you’d have the same result. He couldn’t understand that. Why would you be calling a vote again when you’re going to get the same result? But I suppose that’s the way the Dáil works.
“He got frustrated, there’s no doubt about that, with the whole slow pace of Dáil reform.
“We all get frustrated at times but I suppose most of us have been through the political system at a lower level and worked our way up to the top,” he added.
“Obviously, there were great expectations of George, there’s no doubt about that. I suppose people thought that George could wave a magic wand and that all of a sudden the economy would improve. But politics moves very, very slowly and George found the adjustment difficult,” the Clare Fine Gael TD maintained.
Although aware that Mr Lee had spoken to Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny last Friday, Deputy Breen was still stunned when news reached him that the former RTÉ economics correspondent had stepped down.
“I certainly was in huge shock on Monday morning when the news filtered through. The party is hurt. There is no point in saying otherwise,” he said, before adding that if Mr Lee had accepted Enda Kenny’s belated offer of a front-bench post, nobody in the parliamentary party would have objected.
“George was a huge asset to the party and I think most of my colleagues were very supportive of George to be on the front bench.
“I believe myself he should have given it a try and maybe after a stint on the front bench, if he wasn’t happy with it, then he could have decided to quit at that stage. I don’t think he gave it enough time really. Maybe he just wasn’t cut out for politics. You have to be patient,” he stated.
Expressing confidence that the Fine Gael parliamentary party would endorse Enda Kenny’s leadership at a meeting on Wednesday, Deputy Breen predicted that Mr Lee’s resignation may discourage non-career politicians from entering the political arena.
“I do think it’s going to have some effect. If you go back into the history of politicians that were parachuted in, particularly at by-elections, there’s a trend.
“It’s very difficult for a candidate elected in a by-election to find their way in the party. When you come in after a by-election there are no positions really available for you and that’s part of the reason that affected George,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Joe Carey said Mr Lee didn’t give himself sufficient time to make a political impact.
“He had the potential, I believe, to make a sizeable contribution to political life in Ireland. However, politics is a difficult profession, requiring persistence and patience.
“The way the Irish political system works and operates, no one person can change things overnight.
“I myself was lucky to have the benefit of cutting my political teeth as a county councillor before being elected to Dáil Éireann and that experience greatly helped prepare me for life as a TD,” he explained.