Some people will be pleased, some people will be nervous. But it’s safe to say that all Irish political parties – including the DUP, whose leader Arlene Foster is to visit Dublin today – are alert to the changes Leo Varadkar has said he will introduce as Taoiseach.
Last month, he said that he was concerned about the fact that Sinn Féin attract many of their votes from under 35-year-olds. Leo has vowed to win those voters from the Shinners, and the method he will use will be to “expose them as the party that they are.”
And what kind of party are Sinn Féin? “They are the greatest threat to our democracy”, Leo said last month.
In a way the new Taoiseach is right. When Leo says “our democracy” , he means the democracy of the twenty-six counties. Few people would dispute that Sinn Féin are at the front of those who wish to end the twenty-six county state and establish a new thirty-two-county Ireland.
But of course that’s not what Leo has in mind. He’s thinking of the fact that Sinn Féin may burst into violent insurrection at any moment. OK, maybe not the fact so much as the fantasy. Either way, it’s good to keep Sinn Féin and violent upheaval linked in the heads of the southern electorate.
Leo has declared himself the champion of “the early risers” – aka the hard-working people who resent having to keep the benefit scroungers and doers of the double in the luxury they have grown used to. That’s another thing Leo will be good at: rooting out all those welfare chancers.
He’s also keen, we’re told, to put clear green water between himself and Fianna Fail, which he sees as the greatest threat to…well, maybe just a threat to Fine Gael votes.
The word is that Arlene and Leo, who have met before and are said to get on well, will continue and develop that work. What unites them? Um, I’ll let you figure that one out.
I’m personally glad to see Varadkar in charge of Fine Gael, just as I’m happy to see Arlene survive as leader of the DUP. Both are strongly motivated by antipathy to Sinn Féin, both don’t mind fabricating stuff about the Shinners – threat to democracy, crocodile tendencies – and both have the capacity to send their party into a tailspin.
Failte romhat, Leo. At least the Irish people north and south will know what they’re up against in the new Taoiseach.
You wonder did his daddy ever teach him about the wrongs done to India by the colonialism who opined that Gandhi was ‘ the greatest threat to democracy’?
Totally Agree Fisorach, Also What Horrors did The British Empire Inflict On Leo’s Grandparents
Great-Grandparents, Both Here In IRELAND and In INDIA.
Perhaps Mr Varadkar is correct ….Sinn Féin is a threat to ‘his’ democracy .It would indeed be a tragedy if some green “cookie monster” were to upset the apple-cart ….Mr Varadkar now earns ( sorry is awarded by his fellow parasites ) more money than the President of the US. Sinn Féin are indeed a threat , not to the long suffering Irish people , but to a class of nepotistic self serving leeches that have plagued the 26 counties from it’s dubious foundation. They are still the same ‘ Fifth Column ‘ that took control after the ” rising” , started the civil war and have done Britain’s bidding ever since. They have spent a century conditioning people to forget about us , their fellow countrymen , a century exporting Ireland’s greatest asset …..her people , a century decimating our language and natural heritage ….who on earth would steamroll a motorway through a site of immense historical importance …..a site older than the Egyptian Pyramids. This same bunch of freeloaders sold all our oil and gas reserves for a few brown envelopes….the Irish ” Thirty pieces of silver “……Oh yes…. ,Sinn Féin is a threat alright ….and well they know it !
Getting Sinn Féin voters to vote for Fine Gael surely would be a miracle. Or maybe he would prefer them to vote for Labour, either way, it isn’t going to happen.
In the event of a UI Unionists could easily find a natural political home in Fine Gael. 400,000 more votes would make FG virtually unbeatable. SF should be careful what they wish for.
More politics of fear from the shaky coalition of chaos.
He does realise of course that his unionist friends regard what he does with his john Thomas as repulsive and sinful? And he knows of course it is the republican movement who supports gay rights? Maybe he is confused?
“And what kind of party are Sinn Féin? “They are the greatest threat to our democracy”, Leo said last month.”
In the same speech he also said:
“We need to reach out to the Nationalist community as well in the North. We are the United Ireland party, it’s the name that we used as part of our tagline when we were founded.”
Which is interesting because they’ve absolutely F.A. plans to ever stand for election in the north. Their website doesn’t even list Northern Ireland as one of their priorities.
The three partitionist parties in the Republic are chickensh$ts, too scared to contest elections in the six counties. I’ve read reports about Fianna Failure looking to contest elections in 2019 but I’ll believe it when I see it. They’re the most corrupt, bent, scurrilous mob of gangsters posing as political party in Western Europe. And that’s actually insulting gangsters.
As for Leo, his manifesto for Taoiseach was extreme populism. It promised huge amounts of state investment with tax breaks for everyone. It was pure Bertie Ahernomics. His problem is that the polls have FF and FG neck and neck, which is also Mehole Martin’s problem. Nothing is being done in terms of effective legislation, the housing crisis or the affects of Brexit. It’s truly a lame duck Dail.