Doing your job well

15th September, 2010

When I first became involved in politics in late 80s and early 90s I was amazed at how much time was spent in bars. After a meeting or canvass everyone would retire to the local pub. You’d then spend as much time in the pub as you did in the initial political activity. After time I realised that this was part of the attraction. You became friends with your colleagues, allies in battle become people you relaxed with. But there was always a dividing line. You could spend all the time you wanted in the pub but if you had a job to do you had to do it well.

I saw this at first hand in Waterford last week. I had a brilliant night, staying up well past 3 enjoying myself. But I wasn’t speaking to the country the next morning. Enda was, and disappeared immediately after the dinner. He, after all, was on Morning Ireland the next day. This is what you have to do. This is a hard business where you have a finite amount of energy. The stakes are high so you have to be able to do business well at all times.

I was speaking to a friend this morning who runs a large shop. We agreed that he would not accept a member of staff turning up in a bad state. So why should we accept what we heard yesterday morning?