Tag Archives: Leo Varadkar

This afternoon.

At Presentation College in Athenry, Co Galway.

Vincent Kearney, of RTÉ, tweetz:

“Be careful with the super glue,” Leo Varadkar tells these pupils at Presentation College Athenry. “I was a doctor for a while and saw what it can do.”

Meanwhile…

Vincent Kearney addz:

Chatting to a wannabe jockey, Leo Varadkar says he used to do a bit of horse riding when he was younger but then “got a bit scared” when became a doctor and saw injured riders coming into A&E.

Meanwhile…

Earlier: Meanwhile in Galway [Updated]

This afternoon.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin addresses the annual general meeting of the Irish Farmers’ Association in Dublin.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan is scheduled to address the meeting at 3pm, while Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is scheduled to address it at 6pm.

UPDATE:

Last night, during the RTÉ Leaders’ Debate, a man in the audience asked the leaders what they would do, if in Government, in relation to the proposed reduction of the national suckler herd.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Fine Gael does not support reducing the national herd and said “that’s not part of our policy”.

He said there are other ways to reduce agricultural emissions.

He said beef farmers have had a very hard time and they often feel they are being “climate shamed” and “blamed for climate change”.

Mr Varadkar added: “I think that’s wrong. And I think that should stop.”

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said he believed the current agriculture system in Ireland is not serving Irish farmers. Instead, he said it’s serving the “big beef processors” and retailers.

He said the Green Party would support a smaller suckler herd while supporting alternative income streams for farmers.

Asked if he specifically agreed with the herd being reduced by 53 per cent, as suggested by Climate Change Advisory Council, Mr Ryan said:

“And at the same time, farmers’ income increase 53 per cent. That’s the change we need to make, so our farmers are better off by spending less, by delivering a product that we get a premium from here and abroad.”

Previously: Meeting Is Murder

Pic: Irish Farmers’ Association

UPDATE:

Uh-oh.

EARLIER:

This morning.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was canvassing in Galway city when he was asked about comments made by Senator Catherine Noone in which she described him as “autistic”.

During a media scrum Mr Varadkar said:

“…but you know, it’s not about me. I just think that we all need to be very aware and very respectful of people who have autism and people who are on the autism spectrum and we need to understand that those terms should never be used in a pejorative way at all.

“And this is a Government that has prioritised autism, you know, we have more ASD units than ever before, more special needs assistants than ever before, more special classes than ever before and also we provided €2million this year for an autism awareness campaign, to educate the public better about understanding what autism and autism spectrum is.

“And we know that isn’t enough…but it is, it’s a good start and we’re going to build on it.”

Asked if Ms Noone should be sanctioned by Fine Gael, he said:

“No, like I say, she’s withdrawn her remarks in full and she’s apologised to those people she’s offended and that’s good for me.”

When it was put to him that Sinn Féin councillor Paddy Holohan had been suspended, over comments he made, and that “surely a suspension is warranted”, Mr Varadkar repeated that Ms Noone had apologised, withdrawn her remarks and that that was “good enough for me”.

He was asked by one journalist how he felt personally about the comments, while another asked if he is still encouraging people to vote for Senator Noone who is running for a seat in Dublin Bay North.

He said: “I encourage people to vote for all of our Fine Gael candidates. Richard Bruton and Catherine Noone are candidates in that constituency.”

Asked by another journalist if he’ll canvass with Ms Noone, Mr Varadkar shrugged and said: “It’s not on the schedule yet but I’m sure I will at some point.”

EARLIER:

Rain Man.

Earlier: Not Literally [Updated}

Earlier:

News editor at the Times Ireland edition Ben Haugh, who clarified the conversation with Fine Gael Senator Catherine Noone – in which she referred to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as “autistic” – before going to print, just spoke to Seán O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio One about the article.

He explained that Ms Noone knew she was being recorded when she made the comments to reporter Brian Mahon while he was walking with her between houses during a canvass last Friday.

Mr Haugh said Mr Mahon was upfront with Ms Noone that he was recording the conversation and was using a dictaphone app on his iPhone in order to quote Ms Noone accurately.

Meanwhile…

Fiona Ferris, deputy head of AsIAm, an autism charity and advocacy group, told Mr O’Rourke that the charity will not be accepting Ms Noone’s apology.

Asked what more Ms Noone can do or say, in light of the group’s refusal of her apology, Ms Ferris said:

“I would say that what she needs to do is take action based on what she said and the inaccuracy of it and you know, she should be trying to take the steps to educate herself about what autism is. But I would also be encouraging people who have candidates who come to their doors to be asking about, you know, what is in their manifesto to contribute towards further support and further understanding of autism.”

Listen back in full here

Earlier:


From top: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Senator Catherine Noone; statement from Ms Noone this morning

This morning.

In The Times Ireland edition.

Ben Haugh and Brian Mahon report that Fine Gael senator Catherine Noone described Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as “autistic” while she was being asked about his performance on the Virgin Media One head-to-head debate with Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin last week.

Ms Noone has since apologised and withdrawn her comments (see statement above).

They report:

Ms Noone described Mr Varadkar as a “very good politician” but accepted that he was “a bit wooden” and was making efforts to improve.

“He’s autistic like, he’s on the spectrum, there’s no doubt about it. He’s uncomfortable socially and he doesn’t always get the inbetween bits,” she added.

She said the Fine Gael leader was “extremely bright” and a “very decent guy”.

They added:

…When contacted by The Times for clarification yesterday, Ms Noone initially denied that she used the word “autistic”. When informed that the reporter had a recording, she said she did not mean the word literally.

….Ms Noone then attempted to give examples of potentially offensive words that could be used out of context, such as “special” and “n***er”. She quickly clarified that she would never use the N word, and said that it was a bad example.

Good times.

Election 2020: Varadkar ‘autistic’, said his senator Catherine Noone (Ben Haugh and Brian Mahon, The Times Ireland edition)

Statement pic via Gavan Reilly

Rollingnews

This afternoon.

Richard Chambers, of Virgin Media One, tweetz:

Taoiseach arrives on Stephen’s Green.

A homeless man looks away.

Familiar sight.

Update…

Um.

Mr Varadkar on Grafton Street.

Rollingnews

Previously: Picture Desk! I Need The IMF Guy In Dublin Walking PAST An Old Irish Homeless Man

UPDATE:

Rollingnews

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during their one-to-one General Election 2020 debate hosted by Pat Kenny on Virgin One Media on Tuesday

Watching the “big” debate on Wednesday between Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin, it’s still very obvious there is no great difference between them.

They have always been “two halves” of a great party.

Let’s not waste time. We are very tired of all this point-scoring, this posturing, and this making of promises that cannot be kept.

This is a time of national crisis.

The best way to “commemorate” the Civil War (whose wounds still fester) is for the two parties to unite and get us back in line with the caring, unselfish spirit of the first Dáil.

John Johnston,
Waterford.

FIGHT!

Televised debate – take us to our leader (Irish Times letters page)

Leo Varadkar, then Minister for Social protection, launching the ‘Welfare Cheats Cheat Us All’ campaign, April 17, 2017

Via Village magazine [more at link below]:

[Leo Varadkar’s] nastiest single initiative came just before he stood for the leadership of his party, with the fractious ‘Welfare Cheats Cheat Us All’ campaign.

But it positioned Varadkar where he wanted to be.

Imagine being in the prime of your life and at the top of your career and deciding what you want to do is target the most disadvantaged in society, those most discriminated against in the most tangible ways, economically and socially.

Imagine feeling that you want to spell out a message that the most scandalous misappropriations are by the welfare classes not the bankster classes.

Imagine being Minister for Social Protection, representing the classes that have nothing to get up for in the morning and running a campaign that promotes those who get up early in the morning.

…His commitment to equality seems tentative. His commitment to divisiveness, if anything, stronger.

What constitutes robustness when standing up to the clowns in Fianna Fáil accelerates into meanness when deployed against the vulnerable and the impoverished in society.

He recently wrote in the Irish Independent:

“We have allowed society to be divided into one group of people who pay for everything but get little in return due to means-tests, and another who believe they should be entitled to everything for free and that someone else should pay for it”.

The gratuitousness of the divisiveness derives from the simple fact there is no such second group. While he later claimed he intends to unite it, this is cynical rhetoric, for the beef is in the divisiveness.

….Varadkar melds neoliberalism and anodyne blandness. But the glue he deploys is the most interesting thing about the man, for the glue is the glue of nastiness.

Go Easier On The Nastiness (Village)

Rollingnews