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TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has been enjoying the favour of the international media since he was appointed – this time, it’s on the cover of the Europe edition of Time magazine.
The 24 July edition’s front page includes a quote from Varadkar calling Ireland ‘an island at the centre of the world’ – an extract from the interview entitled A Portrait of the Prime Minister As a Young Man.
The international media has, by and large, been incredibly fawning over Ireland’s new leader, saying that Varadkar’s sexuality and ethnic background signal a significant shift to Ireland’s identity as an insular, Catholic nation.
In the interview, Varadkar insisted his meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month wasn’t just a photo opportunity to distract – a response to criticism that important matters were pushed aside for events that focused more on socks, bodhráns and jogs than Trump, trade and Brexit.
In the interview, he defends Ireland’s corporate tax rate, speaks about the importance of advancing equality during his tenure, and says he can ‘absolutely’ rule out the possibility of Ireland leaving the EU.
He also mentions a phone call with Donald Trump from 2011 concerning the businessman’s Doonbeg golf course in Co Clare. Varadkar was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport at the time, and Trump called him to ask for a planning problem to be resolved.
“I got the impression,” Varadkar told Time, ”he was the kind of person who would pick up the phone and want to ring the man or woman who is in charge over there, rather than necessarily going through normal business or diplomatic procedures…
There are pluses and minuses to that.
The full Q&A with Varadkar is here.
It’s not the first time a Taoiseach has been on Time’s cover – in October 2012, Enda Kenny featured on Time’s front page along with the heading: ‘The Celtic Comeback‘.
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Somebody should tell the Americans we aren’t obsessed with race and identity politics like they are.
Leo Varadkar has done very well so far and the opposition parties will be worried come the next election. He would easily win any TV debate.
@Beachmaster: Not a red cent more…5 billion later
The US is made up of so many different races and cultures. Until recently Ireland had a racially homegeneous society. It will become regular mainstream discussion here in time.
@Beachmaster: bet there’s a mention of his sexual preference in it too. To quote the Don, Sad!
@P C: Nah, he’s too bad a liar. He was only days in the office when Micheál Martin outed him for telling bare faced lies. One can only imagine how much ammunition he’ll have saved up come election time.
@Beachmaster: it’s the european edition but your point still stands!
@P C: I’d like to see him debate the garda lies and corruption with straight answers. I know it won’t happen.
@Martin Ryan: he already said if guards lied under oath then action will need to be taken against them.
@The Risen: OH crap – you have the evidence? Quick, call John McCain – he’d love to see it!
@P C: Really? Thats the problem with Gardai investigating Gardai, they can decide what to ignore.
“The conduct of Garda witnesses in the Jobstown trial will not form part of a review ordered after the acquittal of TD Paul Murphy and five other anti-water charges protesters, Garda Commissioner Nóirin O’Sullivan has said.”
Jammin/Risen/Good Wee Footsoldier, wasn’t there a nice article about your fearless leader, chuming it up with the Trumps back in the day.
Ah well, I guess if there are a a chance of a few bob, the GWR are okay with that.
@The Risen: If you have evidence of criminality you should take it to the Gardaí
@P C: debating is fine action is more to the point. Leo has proved little in his ministries and yes he is good the sound bites but poor at delivering. The real challenge is to bring all strands of society with you and Fine Gael have failed spectacularly in this regard.
This is a very divided country currently and politicians have failed to address this situation adequately.
The test of the next election will be uniting the country both econmically and socially.
@Government Sachs: yip and they never mentioned anything about his hair cut preference! If their going to talk about his private life I want to know whats his favourite colour too! Unbalanced interview
@Beachmaster: Does the edition come with a free sick bag?
@Patrick Kearns: Michael Martin outed him as a liar ha ha such an honest fella like Michael Martin
If he calls u a liar your in trouble alright like Hitler calling someone a murderer
@P C: Are you serious,what has he actually done? Two faced snake,just like all those around him,including FF & Jokedependents
I know most commentators here have written him off already but I genuinely hope he lives up to all this expectation.
He has been given a very privileged position where he can make a real difference in people’s lives, hope he’ll make the most of it.
@Tweety McTweeter: certainly his slap down of Paul Murphy in the Dail yesterday suggests he will be a very effective Taoiseach.
@P C: Slapping down the likes of Paul Murphy isn’t the hardest thing in the world in fairness. Let’s judge him on the policies he advocates, not his ability to best the other side of the Dáil.
@Tweety McTweeter: what expectations?
@Government Sachs: well the policy he’s shown us all so far is he is happy to support Garda committing purjury, and maintaining the status quo of corruption and abysmal management at all levels of the force. Great start !
@P C: You mean condoning perjury by a host of witnesses,puts him in line to be a great leader? You have some strange sense of morals.
Paul Murphy, Sinn Fein and the rest of the Left will probably spontaneously combust when they see this. Lol
@P C: Your own party membership rejected leo for leader. I must have a quick look at the Time article to see if he mentions that.
@The Risen: you’re scrapping the barrel again. More loopy comments. Lol
@P C: Truth hurt PC??
Coveney won two thirds of the partys membership vote. Only one in three fine gael members supported leo.
@The Risen: lol. You clearly don’t understand the college electoral system.
Oh how was Michelle O’Neill elected to SF head in NI? Was she just parachuted in or was there an open election like FG? LOL.
@The Risen: Tell me about the democratic process that elected Michelle O’Neill – or indeed the last SF member to challenge Gerry Adams? Glasshouses and all that.
@The Risen: paul murphy is FAR LEFT,. There is a difference beween left and far left. Anything to the extreem be that far left or far right is dangerous.
Yep, I’d heard it was a sore spot with the party faithful all right. The fact that two thirds of them voted for a candidate who only held onto his seat in his own constituency on the 11th count ahead of leo, and leo STILL ended up being leader!
LOL!!
@P C:
Notice he has yet to anwser you about whether Michele O’Neill was elected by party memebership….we’re waiting…..
@The Risen: So no update on Michelle O’Neills election process?
@The Risen: please answer our question, how was Michelle O’Neill elected as SF leader in Northern Ireland?
@Fred Jensen: As per their party rules the ard comhairle is elected by the membership every year democratically on live television. Part of the democratically elected ard comhairles functions is to select a leader for the Party in the 6 counties. It is not an elected position but is chosen by people voted on by all members to carry out the decision.
@Niall O’Tuama: I wonder how extreme you’d say someone is if Tiny Tim in Dicken’s Christmas Carol makes them angry because Tiny Tim didn’t go out and get a job…?
Let me know if you need further clarification, I can borrow a box of crayons somewhere……..
@The Risen: LOL. So she wasn’t elected by party members at all. Lol. She was chosen by the central command. Not very transparent is it. Lol lol lol
@P C: So you’re fine with leo as leader, depite him not being elected by his partys membership, but was elected in his own constituency
but
Have a problem with Michelle O’Neill under the same criteria?
Hypocrite much??
Here, I’ll simplify it for you further….
Michelle O’Neill was chosen by people democratically elected by the membership to make that decision for the party.
leo was rejected by 2 out of 3 of your membership
What was that about democratic processes again??
@The Risen: this is laughable beyond belief. So how you you know she has the backing of her party membership? You don’t, because the was no vote on her!!!!!!
Did you miss the bit where it’s not an elected position? I guess you didn’t, but anything to distract from the fact that fine gael party leader IS an elected position, and your current leader was rejected by 2/3 of the membership.
Fine Gael – Where your membership fee is welcome but your opinion is not.
@The Risen: so it’s a dictatorship in Sinn Fein. You have just confirmed everything we have been saying for years. Lol
@P C: we can but hope……
@The Risen: A majority of FG public representatives elected by the people of Ireland voted for him.
Not a small cabal of Shinners hiding behind closed doors.
@The Risen / Were Jammin:
Tell us why political members/hacks are more important than elected officials?
PS Who is Gorry appointing next?
@P C: It is true, the FG grassroots voted for Mr Coveney.
@P C: Why as Trump, Stalin and Hitler were on its cover too …
http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19430104,00.html
http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19360413,00.html
He’s still very right wing – his sexuality and ethnic background has no impact on his very conservative political beliefs.
@Smidgen Dublin: better than left wing.
@Smidgen Dublin: no he is not very right wing. He center right. The freedom caucus section of the republician party in the US is very far right. You might want to look them up and you will actually see what horrible evil “very right wing” is
@Smidgen Dublin: Right wing, maybe. Conservative? Hardly. The two are not joined at the hip, you can be one and not the other.
@Smidgen Dublin: Should it? If so, why?
@Smidgen Dublin: Homosexuals and people with ethnic backgrounds can’t be right wing?
@P C: You have already proved yourself to be stupid & ignorant.
@Malachi: Are you for real?
@Niall O’Tuama: An out & out supporter of everything Thatcherite & you say he isn’t very right wing. You need a political education or maybe just an education.
@Diarmuid: Another stupid comment. Who says so?
@John Loftus: name calling is the last resort of the inarticulate.
@John Loftus: Er, are you going to tell me why you think I’m wrong or am I supposed to be telepathic?
He has no mandate from the Irish people
@Francid Dooley: he was elected by the people in his constituency and he was voted as Taoiseach by the Dail. Your comment is bizarre and shows a lack of knowledge.
Erm, the Irish people never elect the Taoiseach. The people elect the Dail, the Dail elects the Taoiseach. Same as every single Taoiseach before him
@Francid Dooley: Correct francis. PC has to ignore the fact that the membership of his own party rejected him by 2 to 1.
But in all fiarness to PC, leo WAS elected in his constituency
Just like every other TD, including Gerry Adams, Paul Murphy, Richard Boyd Barrett etc.
@The Risen:
Yep, and the majority of those elected TDs voted for Varadkar as Taoiseach
@Tweety McTweeter: when did the Irish people ever vote on who should be Taoiseach???
@P C: That’s what I said…
@The Risen: What was the breakdown of votes for Michelle O’Neill? Don’t you feel a bit silly criticising a party’s agreed voting system, when SF didnt bother with one for their leadership role in the North?
@Tweety McTweeter: sorry my comment was meant the jamming aka risen
@Honeybadger197: Sinn Fein haven’t had a choice of leadership since the early ’80s!
@Reg: *Robert Mugabe approves this comment*
@Reg: a bit like North Korea
LOL!
An article about leo being on the cover of Time magazine and the YFGers still have to do their ‘Noun Verb Sinn Fein’ deflect deflect deflect
Says it all about his performance so far!
@The Risen: well you speak on behalf of SF. Your presence here attracts derogatory comments against SF.
@The Risen: why would FG want to deflect away from Leo being on the cover of Time. You’re seriously losing it. Another loopy comment.
@P C: Risen / Were Jammin is pure jealy.
@Tweety McTweeter: didn’t Fianna Fail just abstain? So he got about a third of tds to vote for him. And 30% of his party. Can’t wait til the next election. Leo won’t mind either he’ll get a chance to go travelling.
A shiny new gay leader from an ethnic background ,elected in a country that is desperate to show the world how P C we all are ,the wonderful utopian world of the modern republic of Ireland ,let me tell Time to have a closer look at the society here ,corporate politics ,corruption ,the land of commissions and enquireys,social inequality ,a health service designed for those that can afford it ,consumer watchdogs that dont bite and a lop sided economy hell bent on creating another financial crisis . yes leo your doing a great job
@Anthony Gallagher:
And no one hardly ever mentions that his mother , a former nurse is Irish and from Dungarvan.
nice joke
gloablism has been good to ireland
fish stolen by eu countries with overseas terriotries a hundreds times bigger than irish waters yet theys till come here to steal
oil stolen
banks and anglo irish bank criminals get away with selling the country
rothschild central bank
@gamescentrel: Ah yes, you’ve got to love that goon who whips out the Rothschilds at the dinner table and instantly makes themselves look stupid.
According to conspiracy theorist websites, there are only three countries left in the world without a “Rothschild central bank” – Cuba, Iran and North Korea. Those are your dream countries, are they? We should emulate their success?
@gamescentrel: Wonder what our standard of living would be like if we had remained a closed economy mainly dependent on agriculture? But sure the maidens could still dance at the crossroads!
@Reg: we have replaced the crossroads with roundabout. As for the maidens…….
@Malachi: the rothshcilds are involved with the central bank in this country and it not a conspiracy phillipines and bolivia and hungary have kicked them out none of them should have control over our money and they caused the ((recession))
@Reg: we would have a better economy if we kicked out the banks and the slimey viruses and take control of our fish and oil
@Malachi: your measure of success is that of a moron. Yes cuba, iran and nk are dream countries, libya was the most dreamy of all before it was recently destroyed by american and french terrorists, but you know nothing about them bar what you were told on the 6 oclock news which is 90% horseshi* so back to sleep
@gamescentrel: Ah, by your use of brackets you show yourself up to be a garden variety anti-semite. Nothing new under the sun.
@jon-boy55: “yes, cuba, iran and nk are dream countries”
Every now and again someone makes a statement that is so painfully, irritatingly stupid that it can safely go without rebuttal.
I am perfectly happy living in a secular liberal democracy, but you go off and live in a totalitarian nightmare state and we’ll see if you’re so quick to be an apologist for the most depraved of authoritarian regimes.
@gamescentrel: What OIL , explain to me where all this oil was stolen from us is as there has never been a commercially viable well off Ireland. Irelands Oil field’s are an urban myth
@Robert Woodward: they got exploration license and other things corrib gas off mayo and the other test drills
Did the Irish people elect him as Taoiseach ? No.. Election will clarify that …
@Willy Malone: and the Left should be very worried by the prospect of an election.
@Willy Malone: No Taoiseach has ever been elected by the ‘people’. I’m open to changing the system to allow us to do so, but it’s no use complaining when everyone knows how the system has worked for the history of the Irish republic.
@Willy Malone:
For someone who is so opinionated on Irish politics, you really need to read up on how the whole system works. The Taoiseach is elected by the Dail, not directly by the people
@Willy Malone: Name the last Taoiseach elected by the Irish people Willy?
@P C: Why?
It will be a long time before Murphy or any of his not so merry lefties will be on the front page of the Time Magazine. Eat you heart out Paul.
Leo Vodarkar is not very right wing….If he was in England he would be to the left of Corbyn….No reduction in USC or change in tax bands …. pension levy going and pay increase for public servants….Much more radical and left wing than Labour party manifesto in England….
@John003: you are mad, “left of Corbyn”, right you are ;-)
@John003: Are you kidding or are you just deluded?
@Irish big fellow: No “lefties” will ever be on the front of this right wing rag,you dope.
“Europe edtion” – pffff
@Minom Pnom: People need to be told what to think and believe lol.
@Minom Pnom: ah stop, we all love Leo. 30% of his own party voted for him. A real man of the people……… who go to fee paying schools even though secondary school is free.
- “he can absolutely rule out the possibility of Ireland leaving the EU”
Wouldn’t be a smart move, would it. And I think he’s right to put it that way.
When it still looked as if Le Pen could take power in France, I could see a scenario of Ireland following the UK out (in the even then implausible case of Frexit). But now, with all the head scratching going on in the UK over Brexit, an Irish exit seems so far-fetched it might as well be ruled out.
Sure he loves talking about himself.
‘ Just because somebody is a minority it doesn’t mean that they’re not a narrow-minded intolerant bigot ‘.
Sam Vimes.
@Mark DeFriest:
Why is he a bigot?
@Tweety McTweeter:
Just threw that out there in a more general sense.
The converse assumption being that if one is from a minority grouping that one is unblemished politically.
And he certainly has displayed a certain level of bigotry towards those unfortunates seeking employment and the working class.
@Mark DeFriest: What bigotry did he display towards the working class?
@Mark DeFriest: What bigotry has he displayed towards jobseekers? Genuinely interested. The only thing I’ve seen him be remotely vocal about recently was stopping welfare fraud, and that’s hardly bigoted.
Rumour has it Leo had to be rushed to hospital recently for decontamination after encountering a working class man who had only gotten out of bed at noon that day while distributing Leo cakes on Grafton Street.
“Varadkar’s sexuality and ethnic background signal a significant shift to Ireland’s identity as an insular, Catholic nation.” And yet the party he is in charge of work harder than anyone else to keep Ireland an insular, Catholic nation.
@Johnny Al Lenn: true, let’s hope he can change that. Not holding my breath tho
I imagine they had to do it now as he might not be there for very long. Highly likely we’ll have a general election within the next year.
@Adrian: well he has a 50/50 chance of being next taoiseach, it will be him or Micheál Martin.The numbers dont stack up any other way
@Robert Woodward:
Unless FG decide to ditch him before the next election ?? Stranger things have happened, ask Alan Dukes !
I do think he could do well but he may be hemmed in by his and his parties right wing ideology.
I’m one of his “get up in the morning guys” and to be honest all this divide and conquer talk just makes him seem hawkish.
What FG fail to realise (or maybe they do and are in the process of hoarding wealth) is that automation and AI are going to decimate the work force in the coming decades. Simply put 70% of the workforce is going to become surplus to requirements.
FG need to move with the times, if you want a fair equal society, you have to recognise that pure hardcore neo-liberal economics are not future proof.
We need to be moving things like universal basic income and the likes.
Will Leo have the smarts to make changes, I hope so, but the danger is he maintains a fixed course. Time will tell.
Either way. Enda stole my vote with lies back in 2011, my votes will be protest left votes until I see some forward thinking and less of enriching the already wealthy.
What’s a magazine?
@Government Sachs: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-12/wealthy-are-buying-multi-million-dollar-bunkers-highest-level-military-grade-securit
They know what to print?
“Time” is up
lot of neo liberals on time rags lot of neo libs winning nobel peace prizes another prize winning identity politician to impose austerity zzzzzzzzzzzzz leos leadership is boring as watching paint dry. No surprise USA EU oligarchies like him great for keeping the corporate jack boot on the lowest paid and the powerless with leo’s welfare cheats campaign and health trolley crisis our privatiser and chief will be jumping on our heads for a while to come it seems.
@Matthew O’Kane: Oh and dont be fool by any talk of austerity over in ireland and billion to be spent, any money spent will be in the private sector and to make further bubbles for the 1% profit irish tax payers wont see a cent.
@Matthew O’Kane: Oh and dont be fooled by any talk of austerity being over in ireland and billions to be spent, any money spent will be in the private sector and to make further bubbles for the 1% profit irish tax payers wont see a cent.Leo will only enforced the crashes, loses on Irish people not the laws on corporate tax dodgers.
Hang on wasn’t ends on the cover of time. Christ they’re not fussy are they
@Dave O’Hanlon: As was Hitler, Stalin and Trump?
Well done Leo, onwards and upwards.
Time for a change.
Fair play to him at least his cover is genuine, Trump made fake Times covers for his golf courses!!
We finally have a leader for the 21st Century. However he is showing worrying signs of being dragged down by the system into eternal compromise. I prefer the views he had when he was in YFG.
@Fred Jensen: sure he was barely in the job 24 hours and he didn’t have the balls to over rule Enda Kenny’s corrupt appointment of Marie Whelan, in fact Leo ordered Michael D to sign her papers quick smart.
I had high hopes for Leo (just as I did for Enda and his new politics back in 2011) but already it is looking like we are going to get more of the same. FG are their own worst enemy, they are actually making FF look good which is a frightening prospect given that lot specialise in crashing the economy
@Inanimate Carbon Rod: New politics in FG? They are just lining each other’s pockets,as they’ve always done.
He spelled ” centre” wrong
Ex FG ministers inervetion in US firms planning problems is a story in its self.
fair play, but what the hell is a Irexit, a generic brand of viagra ?
Well holy God!
Front page may well be found in many a toilet cubicle.
fair play , but what the hell is a Irexit ?
@Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh:
I think they meant FireExit
Penny has dropped that Ireland is post insular Catholic Church
What a media love child and utterly crazy a comment on everything a vacuous man
@Stephen Grehan: Fair play to Enda and Leo being being glorified in the same rag as the Fuhrer.
great man Leo,under FG stewardship they have added on an extra 100,00 people to those classed as in poverty to 750,000 but Leo’s the man to get it past the 1 million mark.We must be one of the few countries in the world that thinks it’s ok for our prosperity and poverty to be both sky rocketing at the same time.
The world is a sick place.
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