INTL Irish Prime Minister resigns -- over *Palestine* (and other reasons)
- Thread starter mzkitty
- Start date
CaryC
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Ok I did read that he resigned but not for that reason.
Wanting to rewrite the Irish constitution which got hammered with a no was the reason given.
I'll see if I can find it. Here it is at Brietbart:
Ireland’s progressive Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has announced he is resigning for “personal and political” reasons, stepping down less than two weeks after he was soundly defeated on a referendum to redefine marriage and the role of women in the nation’s constitution.
Fine Gael politician Leo Varadkar, who became his country’s youngest ever Taoiseach (Prime Minister) in 2017 made a surprise announcement in Dublin on Wednesday, saying he was resigning the leadership of his party and the nation. Varadkar said he would stay on as PM until a new leader could be selected and sworn in, saying that would likely happen as the Irish Parliament returned to session after the Easter recess.
The resignation comes less than two weeks after Varadkar and his government allies suffered a massive and unexpected — by them, at least — defeat in a double national referendum this month. Under the proposed changes, marriage would have been redefined as “durable relationships” in the constitution, and protections for women were to be removed as they were claimed to be “sexist”. Despite a perception the government was definitely going to win the votes, they were actually defeated with 67 per cent and 73 per cent against on the two questions.
The referendum was not Varadkar’s first, indeed one of the first major events of his leadership was the 2018 referendum to abolish the right to life for foetuses, legalising abortion in the until-recently staunchly Catholic country. He was also a leading figure in the campaign to legalise same-sex-marriage, with the government winning a national referendum on that subject in 2015, when Varadkar was a government minister.
Irish media reported last year that Varadkar was considering making use of that constitutional change by marrying his long-term partner Matthew Barrett and “welcoming kids” to the family. But those statements came less than a year after the Irish leader faced headlines about him having been filmed “socialising” in a Dublin gay nightclub, which he dismissed as a “personal matter”.
A similar scandal that mirrored the Varadkar video emerged in Finland the following year where Prime Minister Sanna Marin — like Varadkar the youngest leader in the history of the country — was filmed “dancing intimately” at a nightclub with a man who was not her husband. Marin resigned months later, also citing personal reasons.
Reflecting on his time as leader and his progressive mission while in power, Varadkar said in Dublin today that: “I’m proud we’ve made the country a more equal and more modern place when it comes to the rights of children, the LGBT community, equality for women, and their bodily autonomy.”
He also said he was proud of having increased the amount of Irish taxpayer’s money sent abroad for “international development” and the welcoming of “over 100,000 Ukrainian refugees”, a matter which has caused not inconsiderable controversy in Ireland, a country of just five million people.
Varadkar said he acknowledged some people would be pleased to hear of his decision, and despite his explanations of the “personal and political” reasons for the resignation predicted there would be speculation about the “real reason” for the move.
As it is, like most European countries, Ireland is just months away from June’s European Union elections, a continent-wide vote which pollsters claim will see considerable gains for the right in the European Parliament. Ireland is also due to have national elections to pick its next government next year. Making oblique reference to the fact he may have become an electoral liability, the one-time golden boy of Irish politics said “I believe a new leader would be better placed than me to… to renew and strengthen the team… I don’t feel I’m the best person for that job any more”.
His party, he said, may stand a “better chance under a new leader”.
This story is developing, more follows.
www.breitbart.com
How do you say "Way to go" in Irish?
Wanting to rewrite the Irish constitution which got hammered with a no was the reason given.
I'll see if I can find it. Here it is at Brietbart:
Ireland’s progressive Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has announced he is resigning for “personal and political” reasons, stepping down less than two weeks after he was soundly defeated on a referendum to redefine marriage and the role of women in the nation’s constitution.
Fine Gael politician Leo Varadkar, who became his country’s youngest ever Taoiseach (Prime Minister) in 2017 made a surprise announcement in Dublin on Wednesday, saying he was resigning the leadership of his party and the nation. Varadkar said he would stay on as PM until a new leader could be selected and sworn in, saying that would likely happen as the Irish Parliament returned to session after the Easter recess.
The resignation comes less than two weeks after Varadkar and his government allies suffered a massive and unexpected — by them, at least — defeat in a double national referendum this month. Under the proposed changes, marriage would have been redefined as “durable relationships” in the constitution, and protections for women were to be removed as they were claimed to be “sexist”. Despite a perception the government was definitely going to win the votes, they were actually defeated with 67 per cent and 73 per cent against on the two questions.
The referendum was not Varadkar’s first, indeed one of the first major events of his leadership was the 2018 referendum to abolish the right to life for foetuses, legalising abortion in the until-recently staunchly Catholic country. He was also a leading figure in the campaign to legalise same-sex-marriage, with the government winning a national referendum on that subject in 2015, when Varadkar was a government minister.
Irish media reported last year that Varadkar was considering making use of that constitutional change by marrying his long-term partner Matthew Barrett and “welcoming kids” to the family. But those statements came less than a year after the Irish leader faced headlines about him having been filmed “socialising” in a Dublin gay nightclub, which he dismissed as a “personal matter”.
A similar scandal that mirrored the Varadkar video emerged in Finland the following year where Prime Minister Sanna Marin — like Varadkar the youngest leader in the history of the country — was filmed “dancing intimately” at a nightclub with a man who was not her husband. Marin resigned months later, also citing personal reasons.
Reflecting on his time as leader and his progressive mission while in power, Varadkar said in Dublin today that: “I’m proud we’ve made the country a more equal and more modern place when it comes to the rights of children, the LGBT community, equality for women, and their bodily autonomy.”
He also said he was proud of having increased the amount of Irish taxpayer’s money sent abroad for “international development” and the welcoming of “over 100,000 Ukrainian refugees”, a matter which has caused not inconsiderable controversy in Ireland, a country of just five million people.
Varadkar said he acknowledged some people would be pleased to hear of his decision, and despite his explanations of the “personal and political” reasons for the resignation predicted there would be speculation about the “real reason” for the move.
As it is, like most European countries, Ireland is just months away from June’s European Union elections, a continent-wide vote which pollsters claim will see considerable gains for the right in the European Parliament. Ireland is also due to have national elections to pick its next government next year. Making oblique reference to the fact he may have become an electoral liability, the one-time golden boy of Irish politics said “I believe a new leader would be better placed than me to… to renew and strengthen the team… I don’t feel I’m the best person for that job any more”.
His party, he said, may stand a “better chance under a new leader”.
This story is developing, more follows.
Irish PM Quits Just Two Weeks After Big Defeat in Progressive Votes
Ireland's progressive Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced he is resigning for "personal and political" reasons.
www.breitbart.com
How do you say "Way to go" in Irish?
CaryC
Has No Life - Lives on TB
There are mulitple spelling in the US:
AOC
Biden
Camelea
McConnell
Blinken
And the beat goes on...........
The Hammer
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Varadkar struck me as a not particularly Irish surname.
According to Wikipedia, his father is from Mumbai and his mother is Irish.
According to Wikipedia, his father is from Mumbai and his mother is Irish.
mzkitty
I give up.
CaryC
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Melodi
Disaster Cat
His father is a GP, originally from India, and his Mother is Irish. He is a doctor and, during COVID, re-upped his license so he could answer phone lines and take calls from patients while still Prime Minister. Someone I know got such a call. He seems to have been raised like most upper-class Irish young men, going to the "proper" schools (aka mainly Protestant, but there are also some with a Catholic background). His husband, whom he has been with for many years (who moved temporarily to Canada during Leo's first Term as Prime Minister, not to be a distraction), is also a doctor.
While somewhat liberal socially, he was considered far too CONSERVATIVE for most Irish voters. I know his most recent record (if you pick and choose things) doesn't look like it. But that is the reality for the most part. Lately, he has had to face all sorts of lose/lose situations (like 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, followed by another wave of single, military-aged men from who knows where).
That said, I don't like many of his policies, and it was time to step down after that fiasco of twin rejections on constitutional amendments (here, the public votes on such changes).
Understand also that during the last elections, the party that "won" didn't have enough seats to form a government. To keep them out of power, the two main parties that had ruled back and forth since the foundation of the modern state formed a "Unity Government." It would be as if the Republicans and the Democrats formed a "Unity Government" if a third party candidate had the most votes but not quite enough, so it went into the House to be decided. Nothing quite like that can happen in the USA, but that's as close as I can get.
Anyway, both parties are in terrible condition, and one-third of the current TDs (members of Parliament) are not running for reelection.
Or as my German-born (but now Irish) housemate put it: "RATS DESERTING A SINKING SHIP!!!" She's a lesbian, and she still danced a bit when I told her he was resigning.
All politics are local, and not all politics are the same as those in the USA.
Marthanoir
TB Fanatic
The Taoiseach ( not Prime Minister ) was far from progressive, he was mocked as a Tory Boy and classed as far right back before he became Taoiseach,
During his years as Taoiseach he spent too much time listening to Left Wing NGO's and political advisors , the media has been pushing the rise of Sinn Fein and other Far Left parties, so that the main parties of Fianna Fail & Fine Gael have lurched to the left as they were convinced that was were the political wind of the people was blowing.
Irish politics has never been based on Right & Left Wing, it was segregated along Civil War lines.
Add in the EU, WEF & Globalists pushing in a Left Wing agenda.
The rise of the minor Left Wing parties was a consequence of the Economic Crash.
It's not over Gaza as the majority of Irish People lean towards the Palestinians.
The main reason is that a large amount of Fine Gael TD's ( members of Parliament ) have decided not to run for re-election and FGs voters have started to turn against them due to the more progressive & woke stance of the party.
Coupled with the disastrous Referenda that saw all the parties campaigning for a Yes - Yes except Aontú ( a traditional Left splinter from Sinn Fein )
Leo may be many things but he is Fine Gael to the core and what he has done to the party has devastated him.
And I say this as a former Fine Gael voter , from a Fine Gael voting family going back to the formation of Fine Gael, from the remnants of Michael Collins Free State.
During his years as Taoiseach he spent too much time listening to Left Wing NGO's and political advisors , the media has been pushing the rise of Sinn Fein and other Far Left parties, so that the main parties of Fianna Fail & Fine Gael have lurched to the left as they were convinced that was were the political wind of the people was blowing.
Irish politics has never been based on Right & Left Wing, it was segregated along Civil War lines.
Add in the EU, WEF & Globalists pushing in a Left Wing agenda.
The rise of the minor Left Wing parties was a consequence of the Economic Crash.
It's not over Gaza as the majority of Irish People lean towards the Palestinians.
The main reason is that a large amount of Fine Gael TD's ( members of Parliament ) have decided not to run for re-election and FGs voters have started to turn against them due to the more progressive & woke stance of the party.
Coupled with the disastrous Referenda that saw all the parties campaigning for a Yes - Yes except Aontú ( a traditional Left splinter from Sinn Fein )
Leo may be many things but he is Fine Gael to the core and what he has done to the party has devastated him.
And I say this as a former Fine Gael voter , from a Fine Gael voting family going back to the formation of Fine Gael, from the remnants of Michael Collins Free State.
Marthanoir
TB Fanatic
Most likely he'll get a cushy EU job or return to his true love being a doctor.
And it's partner not Husband, they're not married.
Intestinal Fortitude
Have Faith
Ireland’s progressive COMMUNIST Prime Minister Leo Varadkar
Melodi
Disaster Cat
I read several articles today that said they had gotten legally married, I think, last year. But if so, I don't think they announced it. All the online media today use husband rather than Partner, and they used to use Partner.
When I write about Ireland, I usually use the term "Prime Minister" rather than translate it because while the Irish version is his official title, I find myself explaining it repeatedly. Unless I'm writing or talking to other Irish people, I use the Official Title (though, sad to say, I often can't pronounce it correctly, but I do try).
But I agree with your post for the most part. As I said, my housemate (aka roommate) is a Lesbian, and she was so happy when I told her that Leo was resigning. She was in an online meeting for work, so I hadn't heard from her yet. Usually, she gets the Irish news before I do. The big smile was followed by the Rats feeling a sinking ship comment.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
I don't say this often, but my housemate is indeed a card-carrying member of the Communist Party from an old German commie family. If I pass on this comment, she will throw back her head and laugh so hard that she will lose her keyboard (when she drops her cup of tea!)
"Dear" Leo may be many things, but he is not a Communist! A gay man who wanted to be legally allowed to marry, sure; but the rest of his politics are pretty conservative. That's why many of today's "Progressive Ireland" don't like him much.
But at this point, they don't like either of the two "Old Parties" much. Dr. Varadkar (and he is one for real) reminds me of some of the Attorneys I worked with at the Department of Justice in San Francisco who were members of the Log Cabin (Gay Republican) club. Socially, it is somewhat liberal to libertarian but financially (and in many other ways) conservative.
And his values are straight from the pits of Hell!
Apparently, they don't have Dominion machines in Ireland!
Summerthyme
