A WOMAN who claimed she took a month’s leave to work on George Lee’s election bid for the Dáil yesterday settled a damages claim for breach of contract.
Bernie Connolly, The Waterfront, Hanover Quay, Dublin, who had worked for the Progressive Democrats, alleged in a Circuit Civil Court action that Mr Lee and Fine Gael figures including party leader Enda Kenny, had reneged on a promise to make her Mr Lee’s parliamentary assistant.
Her allegations regarding any such promises were denied in full defences entered in the case on behalf of all defendants.
Conor Bowman, for Ms Connolly, and Michael Binchy, for Mr Lee, Mr Kenny and eight Fine Gael trustees, agreed on a confidential settlement.
Mr Binchy told the president of the Circuit Court, Mr Justice Matthew Deery, that the action had been settled and could be struck out with an order for taxation of Ms Connolly’s legal costs.
Mr Bowman said the parties had agreed the settlement would remain confidential.
Mr Justice Deery was told the settlement was against all of the defendants, who also included Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran, chairman of the party’s trustees Enda Marren, director of organisation Frank Flannery, Dún Laoghaire TD Seán Barrett and Cork South-Central TD Deirdre Clune, as well Jerry Carey, Mary Hayes and Patrick Durcan.
Ms Connolly, in her civil bill, alleged that on May 1st last year, Mr Curran, claiming to have the authority of his co-defendants, had invited her to be interviewed for the position of parliamentary assistant to Fine Gael’s byelection candidate, who at that stage had not been identified to her.
She said she had been told she would be required from May 6th to join the campaign staff for the election and had taken leave of absence from her existing job with the PDs. She had been told she would become the candidate’s parliamentary assistant on election, she said.
She claimed she had been introduced to Mr Lee on May 6th and the following day had started work in the campaign office in Dundrum, working there until the byelection.
She had worked all day on June 6th at the count in the RDS and had attended the Fine Gael post-election dinner party in McGrattans Restaurant where she had met Mr Lee and Mr Kenny.
Ms Connolly claimed she had afterwards been told by Mr Curran to attend at the Fine Gael office in Leinster House.
She had done so and had received instructions to get a letter from Mr Lee stating he was employing her.
She had waited for Mr Curran to make further contact with her and, when there had been none, she had phoned him.
He had told her to contact Mr Lee directly. On doing so, Mr Lee had said he knew nothing of the agreement between herself and Mr Curran relating to the job offer.
She claimed Mr Lee, despite having told her he would look at her CV and come back to her, had not contacted her since.
Ms Connolly stated in her civil bill that Mr Curran had assured her there was a clear understanding between himself and Mr Lee that she was to get the position after the election. She also stated that she had left her position in the PDs for a month and claimed she had suffered loss, damage and inconvenience as a result of breach of contract.
End-of-summer return George Lee and RTÉ
FORMER RTÉ reporter George Lee said he could be back at work at the State broadcaster by the end of the summer but has admitted he would not be involved in reporting on Government policy.
The former Fine Gael TD was elected to the Dáil in the Dublin South byelection in June 2009, but he resigned nine months later when he complained that he had no input into shaping Fine Gael’s economic policies.
In a public lecture at the University of Limerick last night, Mr Lee would not discuss politics and told the audience it was a difficult subject for him now.
Before the lecture, entitled Ireland’s Economic Collapse: Where to Now?, Mr Lee refused to take any questions from the waiting media.
“In terms of the politics, it’s a difficult subject matter for me at the moment to get into in any big way,” he told the audience after he was asked why he left Fine Gael.
When asked from the floor if he could return to journalism given his criticism of the Government, Mr Lee replied: “I don’t think I can go back to economic journalism in the manner in which I was doing, but I do believe that doesn’t mean I can’t make a contribution journalistically in some other way . . . but not necessarily get too mixed up in Government policy.
“I think for a while I won’t be involved in economic journalism or what is related directly to Government policy because there are too many people out there willing to say that I am biased. I don’t believe that is true.”
Mr Lee said he was still in negotiations but it could be August before he returned to RTÉ.