This article is from page 13 of the 2010-02-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
published below.
The former Dublin South TD’s resignation from the Dail yesterday (Monday) was greeted with shock by his close Fine Gael colleague Pat Breen TD who described him as a great loss to politics and the party.
“He was an honourable man, obvi- ously this decision was preying on his mind for some time; and yet he took the time to honour a commitment he had given to me to deliver the key note address at the Kilrush Chamber of Commerce dinner on Friday night last,’ said Deputy Breen.
Mr Lee, who gave no clue of his 1m- pending decision at the chamber din- ner, did, however, signal his unease at his dual role of being a politician and economist.
In pointing to the need for solutions
to the current recession, he said that people were always “giving out” in the Dail.
“IT think, fair enough, that is Irish politics. But we really need to change. We need to work on solutions. These are going to be very difficult solu- tions. Finding the solutions to where we are now is new. It is difficult be- cause we have never been in this situ- ation before,’ he said.
Yesterday the former TD claimed that despite his best efforts, he had virtually no influence in shaping Fine Gael’s economic policies and felt he had no option but to go.
“Being a crowd puller can be a pret- ty hollow thing,’ said the man who addressed 140 people in the Kilrush Golf Club 60 hours earlier.
Deputy Breen last night expressed his sadness at his colleague’s deci- sion.
“T got to know George very well as we both sat along side one another in the Dail Chamber for voting, where we chatted on a daily basis.
“George was driven by passion and his address on Friday night reflected his knowledge of the problems that the Irish economy is facing for the future.
“TI believe that George found it dif- ficult to adjust to his new life in poli-
job from his previous lifestyle as economics correspondent for RTE,”
tics, it is a very difficult and tough he added.
“T respect his decision and I believe that the world of politics and the Fine Gael Party is at a great loss follow- ing his departure and I would like to take this opportunity to wish George and his family every good wish for the future.”
Clare TD Joe Carey said he was equally shocked by Mr Lee’s deci- sion “to resign from politics after such a brief time as an elected mem- ber of Dail Eireann”.
“He had the potential I believe to make a sizeable contribution to po- litical life in Ireland. However, polli- tics 1s 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 po- litical teeth as a county councillor before being elected to Dail Eireann and that experience greatly helped prepare me for life as a TD. I wish Mr Lee every success in his future career.”