John Lee
speaker
348 appearances
3 recordings
3 series
first heard Nov 2018
last heard 20 Dec
John Lee’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 2 in all, peaking in Dec 2025 with 1.
Appearances
So there was actually a fall.
What helps them was the weakness of the Fine Gael campaign, which allowed them to get a seat bonus and get 10 seats ahead.
I spoke to Alan Kelly, for instance, in those crucial armistice days between the election and the formation of the government.
And he went into a room with his leader, Ivana Bacic, to negotiate with Micheál Martin.
And he felt there was absolutely no interest.
So I think in the days following that general election, they went, OK, hang on a second.
Now, I'm not being cynical here when I say this, but a big part of bolstering yourself when you're formally governed is to be able to give your supporters, your TDs and ministers, jobs.
You can provide cabinet positions.
that keep them loyal to you, that reward them for what they have done in the previous year.
A masterstroke came about then when this group of independents who Michael Lowry could offer as a voting block of people
were given or granted or allowed to take the position of Count Corla, which arguably is a better position than Cabinet Minister.
It's got a very good wage.
You're guaranteed election next time out.
There's state car and all the other privileges that go with such a position.
That then gave Micheál Martin and Simon Harris an extra Cabinet seat, which was crucial.
They could then move on and reward their people.
So,
In, I think, a misguided belief that there have been some kind of, because Micheál Martin has continually referred to this mandate he got a year ago.
In fact, their national figure went down.
It would be unjust not to point to Micheál Martin's successes.
Showing 121–140 of 348 · page 7 of 18
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