Sometimes 'parachute candidates' don't quite work out

Fine Gael appears to have an extraordinary knack of producing a crisis which is perfectly timed from the point of view of Fianna Fail. Whether it’s a heave, or a bad dose of nerves caused by opinion polls, you can rely on FG to produce something out of the hat that will give FF a chortle.

But the ultimate ‘rabbit out of the hat’ was this week’s resignation from the Dail and Fine Gael of its brightest ‘new signing’ – former RTE Economics Editor George Lee, who joined the party in a fanfare, and had a huge victory in the Dublin South By-Election caused by the death of Seamus Brennan TD. Remember the scrummage on the plinth outside Leinster House?

Lee was plainly dissatisfied that the business of politics was not as he understood. He said he was not consulted, that his role was peripheral .... and that he had gone into politics ‘to make a difference,’ something he was not getting with the structures of Fine Gael as it stood at the moment. In other words, a young man in a hurry in a business where they all have their own sweet pace.

Now he pointed out in the lengthy interviews which he gave that he had had discussions on his role in the past week with Leader Enda Kenny who, apparently, offered him a front bench position, but, as far as George Lee was concerned, it was all too little and too late. Some in the party will wonder how Enda Kenny could allow a situation like this to arise and why he didn’t move earlier on a front bench position which was always on the cards.

Of course the extraordinary resignation will also fire-up speculation about the Enda Kenny leadership – we hardly needed the George Lee confirmation that Kenny’s leadership was being discussed, and discussed more often in recent times ...... Fine Gael has had a perennial discussion going on about all of its leaders of recent times, and the debate becomes more discernible when a new opinion poll is published.

The most recent Red C poll showing a bounce of four per cent in support for Fianna Fail was guaranteed to give the FF morale a bit of a lift, and, as night follows day, it was certain to cause head-scratching in the ranks of Fine Gael, with one of the first questions being whether Enda Kenny would, eventually, be able to lead them to an election victory which would see them going into government with Labour.

You see there’s a growing feeling in Fianna Fail and the Green Party that they will be able to hold out to 2012 for the next general election. FF are lagging very badly in the polls at the moment, but that four per cent increase in support, and the hope that the worst of the anger might have moderated among their own voters in two-and-a-half years, is keeping them more confident than they have been in a long time.

For more, read page 14 of this week's Connacht Tribune.