We shouldn’t confuse a prima donna with the real McCoy

GEORGE Lee has made an eejit of himself. The biggest loser in George Lee’s series of decisions to exit RTÉ and now return is himself. He has reduced his broadcasting and political careers to a media circus. Within a week, this will have evaporated.

He then will be left with the debris of poor judgment and a petulant character. While there must be sympathy on a personal level for a sincere man and his family, he will have to accept that he has been the author of his own misfortune.

This meteoric rise and fall provides a narrative on the comparisons between a career in politics and the media. Having spent more than 20 years in the former and now dabbling in the latter, I feel reasonably placed to contrast the characteristics of both. At a profound level, people involved in politics at every level from party branch volunteer to leader have an essence of public service. This vocational aspect of their motivation and commitment is rarely visible in a cynical world. My media colleagues tend to be full of charisma and personality, but at heart are vulnerable egomaniacs.

The people George Lee has let down most are the hundreds of foot soldiers in the Dublin South constituency. They erected posters, delivered endless leaflets and absorbed door to door abuse canvassing on his behalf. Their reward was participating in his success and savouring the potential of his national political career prospects. He has not only betrayed them, after such a short period since last June’s by-election, but has shown callous indifference to their feelings. In multiple interviews over recent days he has utterly disregarded their angst. He too easily dismissed the honour it is to be an elected representative.

In the short term it will be popular to blame Lee’s departure on Enda Kenny’s failure to accommodate and mentor him. Kenny will be blamed for not appointing him to the front bench earlier. His leadership, already in the doldrums, will be criticised on the grounds of poor management of a unique talent. This has little validity. In all parties, the careers of individuals have been savagely and unfairly treated. Excellent talent has languished on the back benches for over a decade. Reshuffle axings have terminated individuals’ employment terms on the whim of a party leader. Albert Reynold’s Valentine’s Day cabinet massacre readily comes to mind.

Was Lee unfairly treated? He repeatedly stated during the by-election campaign that he never sought any job or position. Nor was any promised by Fine Gael. He was entitled to ask for some reassurance on this point given his highest national profile and important job in RTÉ. Lee’s candidature represented a national boost to Fine Gael nationally. Any such offer would have been justified in the context of his spectacular achievement of 54% of the by-election vote. It’s now clear that Lee expected to be put on the front bench and to operate at the highest levels in the party’s economic development. To throw the toys out of his pram after eight months reflects enormous naivety and petulance. Lee failed to sustain the two most important qualities in a politician — commitment and perseverance.

The longer term consequences of this debacle will persist for both RTÉ and Fine Gael. Our national broadcaster is now obliged to take back Lee, after a year leave of absence, on the same reputed salary of €150,000. For reasons of statutory political fairness it is improbable that he can appear with an on-screen role. The manner of his departure, left many close associates bruised within RTÉ. While there will be a legal obligation to re-employ there will not be a welcome on the mat. FG and other political parties will find it more difficult to attract potential high-profile “parachute candidates”. These aspirants will now run a mile, having observed the outcome for Lee. Labour’s Senator Alex White will be the beneficiary in Dublin South.

Politics at the highest level is about temperament and judgment. It is a tough and cruel trade, requiring personal insensitivity. Lee’s attributes of self indulgence and impatience are not suited to cabinet life. It is much better for himself, FG and the country that this all happened in the relatively insignificant shallow waters of opposition politics, rather than the deep ocean swells of government buildings.

Perhaps, FG could have done more to appease George’s ego, but spoiling any child only stores up further long term trouble.

Of much greater importance to the country was the publication of the January exchequer returns last week. Tax revenues decreased from €3.7bn for the same month last year down to €3bn. This decrease of 17.7% was presented as a modest improvement on the same annual decrease from 2008 of 19%. What a rubbish analysis. These declines are cumulative. They reflect the VAT returns for last November and December being down €354ml. This means there was no Christmas spending surge, other than over the border in the North. The monthly redundancy statistics of 6,700 show the real economy is in a deep deflationary cycle.

Next month’s figures will relay further retail devastation due to the impact of the desperate weather on the January sales. The economy has not turned a corner. Sadly, there is every prospect that 2010 will be even tougher than last year. Even worse, there are worrying trends within the Government. Since the disastrous losses in the local and European elections, Fianna Fáil in Government did not retreat into its shell. They showed decisive leadership in relation to the budget, Lisbon Treaty referendum and NAMA. This resurgence of political courage was not due to any reinvigoration of Brian Cowen. The certainty of purpose and clarity of message emanated from Brian Lenihan. He was the star performer.

Over recent weeks, there are signs of the old failings reappearing. Caution and indecision are recurring. The back-peddling on the top 600 civil servants’ pay cuts and the softening of language in relation to public service transformational reorganisation in lieu of further pay cuts are evident examples. My fear is that this may be linked to Brian Lenihan’s ill health. Make no mistake — Lenihan’s place on the team is as essential as Torres is for Liverpool or Wayne Rooney for United. For the key matches, any pain-killing injection to produce a half fit striker is necessary.

Without Lenihan, this Government could lose its mojo. Brian’s health has sadly become the elephant in the room of Irish politics. Only his determination to implement Colm McCarthy’s Bord Snip recommendations will succeed in making Government more productive and efficient. The failure of the Department of Finance to have the primary role within Government was at the heart of the Ahern era of mal-administration. Lenihan’s real achievement has been to restore his department’s authority.

Any amount of heavy lifting remains to be done to resolve the crisis in the public finances. Declining tax receipts mean an even harder line has to be taken on reducing public expenditure and reforming public services.

While wishing George Lee well in his chosen future career, the country needs to focus on ensuring that Lenihan stays well enough to perform the incredibly arduous turnaround in our economic fortunes. We should not confuse a prima donna from the real McCoy.