Edited extract from interview on RTÉs News at One:
Seán ORourke: George, you had the endorsement of, I think, 52 per cent of voters in Dublin South as recently as last June, you got elected on the first count, you were seen as a rising star in Fine Gael . . . eight months on, suddenly its all over. What happened?
George Lee: Well, it’s nine months since I joined Fine Gael, actually, and the reason why I joined was because I felt, given the state of the economy, that I really wanted to play a part in terms of economic policy formation and so on, and I made an absolutely clear about why I was getting into politics, and for the last nine months, I’ve done my best to have an influence on that, but I have to confess I’ve had virtually no influence, no input whatsoever, and I feel I’d be completely dishonest to allow myself to carry on like that, so Im not going to carry on like that, its over.
SOR: Were you not appointed chairman of an economic policy committee?
GL: I was appointed chairman of an economic forum without my consultation whatsoever, which wasnt the role at all I wanted to play.
SOR: What role did you expect to have and why and how was it denied to you?
GL: I would have expected that I would have had a greater input in terms of economic policy debates, decisions, or consultations or anything like that, and it just didn’t happen.
SOR: Why?
GL: I cant answer that . . . Its not for me to answer why it hasnt happened, but Im sure that it may have happened now given that I have decided that I was going to go, but I have made up my mind, Ive taken a view, and I dont believe that I can play the role adequately that I would have wanted to have played.
SOR: Presumably this decision has come after some serious engagement and conversations with party leader Enda Kenny?
GL: Well it came firstly after some serious reflection on my part in relation to what I was doing and how I was allowing myself to play a role which suited other people but wasnt the role I wanted to play. I spent a lot of time reflecting on that and thinking about that, particularly over the Christmas period and since, and I would have had conversations with the party leader over the past week . . .
SOR: What role could have been provided? As you say, youre only there nine months.
GL:. . . Nine months is a enough time to make up your mind with regard to how youre fitting into the party and what kind of role youre playing...
SOR: Ive often heard it said that one of the most difficult adjustments in life is for somebody who is elected in a byelection to adjust to life in parliament because there is a huge fuss made out of them initially, theyre carried forward on a wave of party infrastructure and all sorts of support, and then they land in, and they are just another one of 166 deputies who have to do the ordinary drudgery of looking after constituencies . . . it can be a very difficult adjustment, and it sounds like youre another case of this.
GL: I dont see it that way myself . . . The economy and the country has been in an absolute turmoil over the last, more than nine months, over the last two years if anything, and throughout the last nine months, there have been absolutely enormous decisions required, enormous debates, enormous policy choices and enormous input, which would have been required, whether in Dáil debates or addressing those issues, and I cant sit idly by and let that period go by and not be honest with myself – I had no input.
SOR: I know, but I mean there were people there, some senior, very experienced people like Richard Bruton and other people there on the front bench giving critical analysis of what the Government was doing and arguably saying the right things...
GL: Well, theyre still there, so they can carry on doing that.
SO’R: And did they not want your advice?
GL: No, they didn’t look for my advice on anything.
SOR: Did you get a sense you were cold-shouldered?
GL: I dont know if I was cold-shouldered. All I know is that I wasnt involved.
SOR: In what way did Enda Kenny indicate to you in the last week or so that could change?
GL: I think it was clear in the course of our conversations that could have changed, but I think from my point of view, its too late.
SOR: What about the 27,000 people who gave you their number one vote in Dublin South? Did you not think you had some obligation to them, even as an Independent, remaining in the Dáil as an independent voice?
GL: Those 27,000 people knew well why I went into politics. They knew well it was about tackling the economic crisis which we had, and I never made any secret of the fact that thats what I wanted to do, and thats why I was getting involved, for no other reason. Theres no point fooling those people . . . And when it comes to being an Independent, I think I cant do that particular role. . .
SOR: But looking at it from the point of view of the Fine Gael party and what it can offer the Irish people by way of an alternative. Enda Kenny is a very experienced politician – he has seen people come and people go, and he presumably wanted to bring you along in the same way . . . Youve got to learn the ropes, youve got to be mentored, youve got to learn how parliament operates, and were still two-and-half years arguably out from an election . . . Maybe there was a learning process, that your impatience didnt allow you to make the necessary adjustments . . .
GL: I wasnt impatient, I was entirely realistic. The role which I went to play was one related to the economy. In terms of mentoring, there was no mentoring, and in terms of the role I was playing on the economy, there was no role . . .
SOR: What would you say to somebody listening to you who would say: these are the words, these are the actions of an egomaniac who thinks hes bigger than the party.
GL: No, I dont feel like that at all . . .
SOR: Again, it comes back to a process of integration. You couldnt really seriously expect Richard Bruton, whos been a member of the Dáil for 30 years in a pretty difficult constituency where he rubbed shoulders with Charlie Haughey . . . that he was going to somehow sit back and say: heres George, I can take a back seat now.
GL: It wasnt about being on the front bench and trying to replace anybody. It was about trying to have an input . . . There wasnt going to be the room made for me in an adequate way – thats my view, and its on the basis of that Ive decided that I have to be realistic about it, and I am disappointed, and Im very disappointed for the people who supported me and very disappointed for the people who canvassed and campaigned for me . . .
SOR: In what way could you have had influence
GL: I could have been asked. I could have been involved. You dont have to be the frontbench spokesperson to be that. It didnt happen...I was busy going around the country from time to time, with the economic forum, the jobs forum as such, being the chairman while everybody else produces and discusses their ideas . . . at the end of the day being a crowd-puller can be quite a hollow thing unless youre involved in the policy.
SOR: You could have suffered the routine of that, you could have helped build up the party, and you could have walked into the next cabinet?
GL: I took my decision on the basis of my nine months experience . . .
SOR: What are you going to do now?
GL: Well, I dont know 100 per cent what Im going to do now is the reality. I think Ill will be probably going back to RTÉ.
SOR: Theres a vacancy in Washington as we know.
GL: Thats on a different level altogether, I think I have to get over this bridge and decide what Im going to do. Remember, it was making a contribution on the economy that I particularly wanted to make. Ive spent a long time in RTÉ explaining economic matters to people, I dont know whats going to happen now.
SOR: Well, youre a busted flush on that front now, arent you? You can hardly be expected to come back onto the airwaves and explain economics now?
GL: No, absolutely, this is the price I paid. If you think about it, I knew what I was doing, I knew I was making myself available.