Politics

Leo Varadkar deserved more in the way of tributes, says former taoiseach Bertie Ahern

Mr Ahern said that the Government is ‘goosed’ if Simon Harris pushes Fine Gael’s agenda too much

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar deserves huge credit for the manner in which he navigated Brexit and stayed loyal to the Belfast Agreement. File image: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Sat Mar 23 2024 - 13:50

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar deserves huge credit for the manner in which he navigated Brexit and stayed loyal to the Belfast Agreement.

In an interview with Brendan O’Connor on RTÉ Radio 1, Mr Ahern said that he would have liked to have heard more in the way of tributes to the Taoiseach following his decision to resign.

“He (Varadkar) did a good job. He did good service. I had a lot of dealings with him on Northern Ireland. He fought through the whole campaign – the backstop, the Protocol, the Windsor Agreement .. he stayed loyal to the Good Friday Agreement. He took a lot of pressure on that. And I think he did a very good job on it.

“I would have liked to hear more of them (tributes). Particularly on the one (issue) I have a passionate interest in, which is Northern Ireland. He (Varadkar) gave a huge amount of time to making sure we didn’t have a land border. You remember all the battles with the Tories.

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“All the difficulties he had. He got Boris (Johnson) on side. He also went offside nearly as quick which wasn’t Leo’s fault. We got the institution back up and running.

“He (Varadkar) deserves a lot of credit for the time and commitment he put in to that and I am not sure he was getting that during the week.”

[ Leo Varadkar bows out and Simon Harris steps in, but what next for Fine Gael? ]

Mr Ahern also praised Mr Varadkar for his handling of the early stages of the Covid crisis and for his contribution to international issues such as Gaza.

The former Fianna Fáil leader said he had presumed that Mr Varadkar would fight the next election “stay around a little while and then go.”

“From his point of view he (Varadkar) has given it 15 years. Most of that time he has been in office. He obviously felt he wasn’t the right person for it. It requires a lot of energy. He obviously felt that wasn’t for him.”

Mr Ahern admitted to being surprised at how quickly the leadership issue was finalised in favour of Simon Harris.

“It was incredible. It was so quick. There seemed to be four or five candidates that I thought all had a lot of credibility. I did not think they would all fall out so quick and effectively by the time ‘Morning Ireland’ ended the following morning the game was over.

[ In the goldfish bowl of the Taoiseach’s office, it was clear Varadkar’s focus had drifted ]

“People look at the job now and if you haven’t got it in your gut to give it 365 days a year and 18 hours a day ... I am not too sure that many people want to do that. I had the honour and pleasure of doing it but I think people who have been in the Cabinet, and they see what is involved and they see the commitment and they probably see the abuse too, I think a lot of them just didn’t want it.”

Meanwhile, Mr Ahern said that Minister Harris has “all the attributes” required to be the next taoiseach.

“He (Harris) had all his ducks lined up in a row very quickly. His plan was exactly what Leo did on Simon Coveney a number of years ago. He (Harris) had everything lined up.

“Communication is a big (attribute of the job) and he (Harris) is good at that. He also has that attention to the detail and I think you really need that. He doesn’t have the international experience or the experience on the north but Micheál Martin is still there so for the next year at least he doesn’t have to worry about that.

“If I was him I wouldn’t take this as a sprint. He is going to be around for ten years. He has time to build it up.

“I don’t go with this thing that he has to turn the fortune of Fine Gael around in June in the local elections. I think that is an unreasonable thing to ask him to do.”

Mr Ahern said that Mr Harris needs to work very closely with Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin and the Green Party’s Eamon Ryan.

“If he was to go pushing too much of the Fine Gael line against Micheál Martin, this Government is over. He is going to have with work very closely (with both). He has to continue what Leo was doing. It is that unity of Government. If you don’t do that the Government is goosed. He has all the attributes, but he just has to be careful. Sometimes it can be the small things that can trip you up.”

He added that it is his expectation that this Government would go full term, and that the General Election will be pushed out to next year.

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