Leadership Quote by Dick Spring

The line is a small masterclass in political emotional management: frustration is acknowledged by being denied. "I'm not getting frustrated..". is less a factual report than a preemptive defense against the exact accusation everyone can already hear forming. It’s the kind of phrasing designed for a microphone, where the real audience isn’t the person across the table but the public scoreboard of patience, competence, and control.

The pivot to "we all knew from the start" does two things at once. It spreads ownership of the outcome across a collective, and it quietly rewrites the past into a story of foresight. If delays are now inevitable, then delays were always inevitable. That’s not evasion so much as inoculation: if you can frame a setback as part of the original plan, you turn a stumble into a slow, steady march.

"Long process" is the politician’s most useful fog bank. It signals seriousness and complexity without naming the points of failure, the deadlines missed, or the factions blocking progress. It buys time while suggesting responsibility: only amateurs expect speed; grown-ups do "process."

Given Spring’s era in Irish politics, the subtext fits a landscape where coalition bargaining, reform, and peace-adjacent negotiations routinely demanded public calm amid private brinkmanship. The intent isn’t to reveal strategy. It’s to project steadiness, keep allies from panicking, and make impatience look naive. In politics, composure is policy.