YouSaid · the spoken record

Leo Varadkar

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39
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2023-05-22
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2023-05-22
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1
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  1. “I'll give you three things I think every partition should always try to avoid bitterness, jealousy, and paranoia. They're the three Traits or feelings, and they enter into everyone's head at some point that I think destroy politicians, either bitter about where they are or why they haven't progressed more or why they've lost their seat or you name it, jealousy of other people within politics because it's an enormously competitive game. You are a sole trader in many ways. And then paranoia believing that the media or some group are whatever to get you and they might be, but if you allow, I think if you allow yourself to be consumed by any one of those three things, you know, that's what destroys politicians, both in terms of their performance and their own mental health.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “Well, we've done a lot of things. I'm proud of having Donna's Mr. Health is our first public health legislation on alcohol and that involves minimum unit pricing and involves restrictions on advertising, structural separation in shops, things like that. What's the famous line called Street Strategy for Breakfast? And when something is such a huge part of your culture, even though alcohol in Ireland is expensive, very expensive actually people are still willing to spend huge amounts of their hard-earned money on it because it's so ingrained in our culture and it's something we're really struggling with, quite frankly. Now, alcohol consumption, by the way, is falling in Ireland, so we are making some progress. But I think we understate the extent to which so many of the bad things that happen in our communities, in our families, and in our society more widely are affected by alcohol.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “A deeply problematic relationship, unfortunately. And I'm somebody who drinks, by the way, and sometimes I drink too much, and it is a very, very powerful drug, and we don't acknowledge it as that. It changes your personality and makes people do things they wouldn't otherwise do. And a huge amount of violence in Ireland, public order offences, violence against children, sexual violence is linked to alcohol, a huge amount of long-term illness. And we discount that. And we also sometimes find it hard to socialize or have any sort of social occasion without the presence of alcohol. And that's one of the big differences, by the way, when I go to an Indian event. Almost always a family event, almost always children there, very rarely any alcohol. And that is so totally different to like an Irish wedding or an Irish birthday party or an Irish going away drinks, you name it. Alcohol is there. And I don't think we read.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “I think that's spot on. And one thing politicians get, which very few people really get, is the helicopter view of the whole service, if you like. So as health minister for the first time in my life, even though I grew up in medical family and worked in healthcare for seven years, I for the first time got that real overview. And what you often see in healthcare, and it's not unique healthcare, is people in their own specialist area think that the solution to the problem is more of me and a bigger place for me to work with. So the emergency department doctor thinks it's more of me and a bigger emergency department. And of course, it's not. You know, you have to think about why people end up in the emergency department in the first place, how they get treated while they're there, and where they go afterwards. And that's not a criticism. It's just, you know, the world that we live in. People often think politicians are in a bubble and very often we are, but is everyone not in a bubble of some sort. We're surrounded by our friends, our family, and the people we work with, and not much else.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “Management experience and they don't actually know that they're about 10 to 12 different factors that give rise to merge department overcrowding too technical problems.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “Yeah, it did help because I didn't need to be briefed up on things. I could understand things quickly, was able to learn things quickly, and would have had a certain level of credibility with the professionals working in the sector that wouldn't be the case for somebody who doesn't come from that field. But it can also be a downside too. You come into these things often with preconceived notions and preconceived ideas or in part because I was a healthcare professional going into the Department of Health, thinking that you could fix things quicker than maybe they can be. For example, we have a big problem with emergency department overcrowding. It's now an international problem, but it's a long-standing problem in Ireland. And sort of believing that it was just a case of lots more beds and lots more staff, which we've done, but it hasn't actually solved the problem. But as a doctor, I would have believed that because that was the preconceived notion that doctors have because they don't have any political experience.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “Yes, it's a good question. First of all, I don't think that politicians becoming ministers, becoming secretaries of state need to be experts in their field. They need to be experts in legislation and communications in politics, in getting things done. You know, the Minister of Education doesn't teach any classes. Secretary of State for Health doesn't treat any patients. So you don't actually need to be an expert in that field.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “I think we have a different sort of relationship, you know, the special relationship between the UK and the US is very real. I know it's important to President Biden, even though some people may doubt that the UK and the US have fought side by side in World Wars in conflict since then. It's a very particular relationship that we don't have with the US, when we have is a different one, but it's important as well in a different way.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “I think it did help during difficult periods in the Brexit negotiations when we were trying to come to agreements around the protocol, Windsor Framework, backstop, all of those things. Sometimes Westminster doesn't always listen to what we say in Dublin, but they do listen to what the White House has to say because it is the most important economic and military power in the world and because of the special relationship between the UK and the US. So if the President says something in London, they hear it. They don't necessarily always hear what we say, unfortunately. That's the nature of things when you're a small country.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “No, it was an important moment, and it was a great visit, and he is somebody whose sense of Irishness and his Irish identity is very real. You know, probably the most Irish president since Kennedy, if not more so. And he really cares about Ireland, really wants to know what he can do to help and wants to be informed by what's going on in Ireland. And that's not just him. It actually then permeates throughout the administration.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “I don't believe that. No, I could be absolutely wrong about that, by the way. I didn't believe Russia was going to attack Ukraine, so I'm not going to claim to have gifts of foresight that I don't have. I didn't think they'd do it. And I don't think that China will attack Taiwan. But I think it was just a bit. Probably wasn't exactly what he meant to say, but that's sometimes how things happen.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “Chinese trade with Ireland is important and Chinese investment in Ireland is welcome. It's a fraction of the kind of investment that we have from the US or the UK or the European Union. So Ireland is part of the West and we share the same values around democracy and human rights. And at least when the West is at its best, it believes in those type of things, it doesn't always demonstrate that in its actions. So, you know, Ireland is part of the West, and that's never going to change. But I don't want the next few decades to be characterized by a new Cold War between the US and China. I don't believe President Biden wants that either, by the way. And I don't want to see Europe caught somehow in the middle of that. And I think that's a concern that we all have. So I think that's where President Macron was coming from, but perhaps he didn't say it in the right way, because, you know, the United States is showing unbelievable support for Europe, for Ukraine. And to then suggest that...”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “I don't anticipate. In fact, I'm sure Ireland will not apply to join NATO. We will do three things. We're going to increase our own military spending, particularly when it comes to things like radar, cybersecurity, not just traditional security. And we will become more involved in European defence and security where part of the PESCO program. China, by the way, wants to take us out of that. I think that's a big mistake. One of the differences between the government parties and the opposition parties. And we are a part of NATO's partnership for peace, and we're going to negotiate, renegotiate that link in the period ahead. Perhaps a little bit more important, though, is Irish people are now very comfortable with the idea that while we are militarily neutral, we're not politically neutral. We know exactly whose side we're on when it comes to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Back to the Cold War, Irish would have been more ambiguous for the Soviet Union, believe it or not, and you don't know much of that when it comes to Russia now.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  14. “I think it's definitely caused Irish people and the Irish government to think about neutrality and think about security in a way we did in the past. You know, Ukraine was a neutral non-allied country. It got attacked. NATO countries will not be attacked. That's why Finland, a historically neutral country, has joined NATO and Sweden is going to join. They've made the calculus now that actually not being a military alliance can potentially make you more vulnerable. You're a soft target. And that has made us think again.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  15. “Yeah, look, there's been a phenomenal amount of change, you know, particularly new medicines and new treatments, because a lot of my partners are consulting cardiologist and a lot of my friends are doctors, so I still keep in touch with what goes on. But there's been huge developments and new treatments and new therapies. What's frustrating is that so many things haven't changed. Probably not as bad in the UK as in Ireland, but the use of IT is still not where it should be. You see how the banking sector, for example, has embraced modern technology. We're still going around our hospitals with paper charts by and large. Not sure that's the case in the NHS, but it's extraordinary that we haven't made more progress on areas like that.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  16. “Among the things in terms of the medical applications AI being able to read x-rays, read pathology results quicker at lower cost and with less error than is done by doctors and scientists. To me, that is amazing in terms of what can be achieved. And it's already picking up patterns and markers that we didn't know existed before just because it's so smart. And, you know, I think you're not that far away from people being able to have medical consultations with avatars. You know, it's extraordinary if you think about it in terms of the practical applications that are possible from AI. And that's all going to be better from the point of view of the patient, from the point of view of the doctor. We may see the doctor shortage not being as big a problem in five or ten years' time as it is now.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  17. “Yeah, well, look, I think it's going to change our world as much as the internet has for the better and for worse. And it's going to be fascinating.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  18. “First of all, Ireland is a great success story. There's 200 countries in the world, and we're in the top 10 or 20 by almost any index, whether it's life expectancy, the best in Europe, educational attainment, full employment, more people coming into the country than leaving, and that includes more Irish citizens coming home every year than leave. So by any reasonable measure, notwithstanding our very real problems like the housing shortage, for example, Ireland is a success story. But yes, we face the same challenges that other Western countries are going to face. Our demographics are a bit more favourable than others. And when it comes to pension costs, for example, we're now bringing in a flexible pension age so people can choose to retire between 66 and 70 and their pension will be adjusted accordingly. So a lot of the figures you see around demographics talk about people”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  19. “Weakened and damaged the relationship between London and Dublin and also created issues for the relationships between the communities here in Northern Ireland and that was entirely predictable. It's one of the many reasons why more moderate unionists for example were against Brexit and it's also why for example somebody like William Hague made the case against Brexit because of the impact it would have on the Union.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  20. “I think two things. Initially, it was that the more extreme parties became more popular in Northern Ireland. You know, the Good Friday Agreement was agreed by two moderate parties, the SDLP and the Ulster Unionists. the more extreme more nationalistic parties became stronger and that made it harder to make it work. Let's not forget the DUP didn't accept the Gutrite Agreement at the start. It took a lot for them to accept it, including some modifications that were for the worse, not for the better in my view in St Andrews. And then in more recent times, Brexit has definitely upended things. And that”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  21. “Well, I think the most important thing that we're marking 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement is that we do have peace in Ireland and we didn't have that for a very long time. I'm part of a generation that has lived most of my life since the Good Friday Agreement was signed. And it hasn't just brought about peace in Ireland. It's also opened the door to prosperity, to social change, to migration into both Ireland and Northern Ireland, which has changed the demographic makeup of our countries for the better, in my view. And that's the most important thing. What's sad is that the promise of the Good Friday Agreement hasn't been fulfilled. For nine of the 25 years, the power-sharing government here in Northern Ireland has not functioned. And as a result of that, the North-South Ministerial Council hasn't functioned. And the East relationship isn't as strong as it used to be or it ought to be. That's the real shame is that the promise of the Good Friday Agreement hasn't been fulfilled.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  22. “I'm still trying to figure that out. Still trying to figure that out. And certainly for people who are in opposition, I can see the attraction of it. When we were in opposition ourselves, Populist a bit sometimes, so I'm not going to be overly righteous about these things. I think for politicians who are in government, you do have to continually try to convince people that you're on their side and really want to solve their problems because sometimes they doubt that, particularly when you're struggling to solve their problems. And that can be a real challenge to demonstrate that you're on their side and you care about their problems and that's what you're spending most of your day and most of your weekend on. And I am, whether it's housing or health care or cost of living issues, you name it. And the other, I think, is actually to make inroads into solving those problems because what people will accept rhetoric from opposition politicians, from government politicians, they want to see results.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  23. “Yeah, like Sinn F ⁇ in figures describe their own party as a left populist party. So, you know, it's not, I don't think it's an insult to describe them as populist left-wing ethno-nationalist. That is what they are. And that's not what I stand for. But, you know, I think populism is largely an international phenomenon at the moment and is defined by some very simple things, you know, simple solutions to complex problems, emotions being stronger than facts. My emotions are more important than your facts. Demonization of opponents and also these conspiracy ideas of elites plotting against the virtuous masses and whether it's left populism or right populism, it's there. It's dangerous.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  24. “I'm deathly interested in it. It's a fascinating country been many times, very curious about the politics there. It's going to have a big impact on our world. You know what happens in China in the past 20 years has changed our world, what's going to happen in India in the next 20 years is going to change our world, in my view. But I'm also really interested in what's going on in the US, for example. And, you know, my family there too. interested but maybe I should be more interested quite frankly than I am”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  25. “Yes, in terms of his sentiments, but wouldn't like to pay higher taxes and would have a very low tolerance of people who don't work and don't make their contribution. So I think probably like a lot of people on the left. Left in sentiment, but in reality, you know, is that really, really what they think?”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  26. “Again, Ireland at the time only really had two channels, two TV channels, one news, which was RTE. And everyone watched the same program on a Friday night and went to Mass on Sunday. My household was different. We obviously were aware of all of that, but we also had Radio 4 in the morning. The BBC News. And, you know, because my dad is Indian, because my folks had spent so much time in England, I was much more aware maybe than most kids of the broader bigger world out there.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  27. “Yes. They met in Leicester, but they lived in Leicester. They lived in Slow for quite some time, quite some time. I'm told they worked in the hospital in Slau when they were filming Carry On Doctor. So it was actually that long ago. But I got married in Maidenhead, which of course strives amazing.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  28. “I think I did, but I didn't realize it at the time, if that makes any sense, because neither my parents were active politically. But we did talk about politics at the dinner table. So, you know, our dinner table debates would have been about politics, about what was happening in the news, about money, religion, controversial issues, would have been aware how my parents were voting, what their thoughts on things were. We would watch the news a lot. And because my dad spent a lot of time in England, and so did my mom, because they met in England and got married there.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  29. “And did us, yeah, and did us, yeah, absolutely, and looked at us A because he probably believed in it, but B, he also understood that elections are one in the center and it made sense to move a centerite party into that space. And that's changed, but it might change back again. But in terms of left-right thing, often people... Describing socioliberal as being centre left, it doesn't have to be. Believing in people's freedom, in personal freedom, in liberty and in autonomy can also be a center-right concept. It's not the government's business to tell you what you do in your own life or in your own bedroom. That can be a writer's interview as well”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  30. “Well, if you take a big change that's happened in Britain, for example, somebody like David Cameron was very committed to overseas development aid and understood the importance of that in terms of soft power and finding a new place for Britain in the world. And I think it's a real shame that you've seen that now go backwards in Britain. And I hope that changes again. And also on climate action, he is somebody who understood that a progressive centre-right party needed to understand that agenda and maybe doesn't now. But”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  31. “Yes, if you need to label me, I think that binary approach to politics of left and right is too simplistic. So socially liberal would be correct and economically liberal or economically conservative depending on how you define those terms would also be correct in the sense that I believe in balancing the books and I believe in the private and public sector working together.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  32. “That's kind of harder to answer, I think. Definitely would have been attracted in the 90s when I was becoming more politically aware as a teenager by the kind of third way approach that people like Bill Clinton, for example, and Tony Blair were trying to put across and then maybe in a European context more from the Christian Democrat side, people trying to do something quite similar like Helmut Kohl. But I'm always a little bit afraid to answer those kind of questions because everything is in its cultural context, its national context and the context of the time.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  33. “Well, you know, certainly in my own party and from my own party background, we're very much in the tradition of Michael Collins, somebody who believed in a stepping stone approach to our national story and ultimately was willing to make compromises to achieve that would have admired another former party leader Garrett Fitzgerald a lot, who was crucial in terms of trying to modernise Ireland in the 80s.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  34. “When Yoder first referendum, Mrs. Thatcher and others fought very bravely to keep Britain in the single market or the common market, as they called it at the time. All parties changed over time and the Conservative Party is currently, it would appear to me, going through a more nationalist phase. And that may change. And parties change too. And, you know, so the convenience day of not having to vote in other countries elections. So I probably, as I said, wouldn't consider myself to be a Tory, but that's not to say that there weren't conservative politicians who actually think are deserving of respect and made some magnificent changes. And, you know, we're here in Belfast, John Major, I think, was one of those who was crucial in the peace process with the Down Street Declaration took a big risks at the time. Both for Europe and for peace in Northern Ireland.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  35. “Probably correct at a point in time. And I'm conscious of the fact that the Conservative Party was the party that brought Britain into the European Union”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  36. “I might have been a Jubilee Oh, that's a very good question. As the Taoiseach, I probably shouldn't answer that. Historically,”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  37. “More so than most countries in Europe and indeed the world. But me becoming Taoiseach, becoming leader of my party does show how much has changed because it wasn't a big deal. I remember the day I was elected party leader of a party that's a centre party, center-center-right party, and then was elected Taoiseach, Prime Minister of the country. It was a big news story internationally that I was. Yes, yeah. So I think in some ways that showed how much we changed, that it was a bigger deal around the world, that what's this happening in Ireland as opposed to Ireland had already changed at that point, if that makes sense.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  38. “Yeah, well, you know, I grew up in 1980s, Ireland, which was a very different place, a conservative country in which our constitution forbade things like divorce. And when I was four years old, the people voted by an overwhelming margin to copper fasten our ban on abortion back in 83-84. So that gives you a sense of how much has changed in Ireland in the past 10 or 20 years and grew up in West Dublin, in suburban Dublin, as a person of colour, to use the term that people like to use now, somebody's biracial, my mom's Irish, my dad's Indian, and would have been the only person in my class with dark skin and a funny name. And Ireland is a different place now. You know, Dublin is an extremely multinational international city with people from all over the world. And I think it's fair to say that Ireland is now a very prosperous country, which it wasn't at the time, and is now a country that is socially liberal.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  39. “My pleasure. I'm a big fan. I was hoping to get around to doing this sometime and delighted we've found the opportunity here in Belfast.”

    2023-05-22 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 19: Leo Varadkar: Ireland's Taoiseach on NATO, China, and Joe Biden · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source