Broadcast turned politician George Lee has decided to resign his Dail (Parliament) seat, citing his inability to make any impact in shaping the economic policies of his party, Fine Gael, as one of the contributing factors behind his decision.

“For the last nine months I've done my best to have an influence on that, but I have to confess that I have virtually no influence no input whatsoever,” Lee told RTE News.

“I was appointed chairman of an economic forum without my consultation whatsoever - which wasn't the role at all which I wanted to play.”

Lee made waves in the political word when he stepped down ad RTE’s economic correspondent to run in the Dublin South by-election, which he won last June.

In a statement he released today, Lee went into further detail about his decision to remove himself from political life.

“When I entered politics last May I made it clear that I was doing so because I wanted to try to play a new role contributing to economic policy formulation. After nine months of trying within the political system it is now my considered view that the role available to me within Fine Gael is not a role I am happy to play,” read the statement.