‘I love your work!’
When Leo met the Terminator
HE might see himself as the Last Action Hero of Irish politics, so it was perhaps apt that the Taoiseach met the Terminator yesterday.
‘I love your work,’ Leo Varadkar told former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, which both men addressed.
The chance meeting at the hip music and tech gathering lasted a few minutes. ‘When are you going to come to Santa Monica?’ Schwarzenegger asked Mr Varadkar. The Taoiseach said he had been to Santa Monica ‘many times’ and would visit again in the future, to which the actor responded: ‘You are always welcome, it’s good to see you.’
Mr Varadkar later tweeted: ‘Thanks to Arnold @Schwarzenegger for stopping by to say hi at #SXSW. Return trip promised to Santa Monica. I’ll be back!’
The Irish Daily Mail asked Republican Schwarzenegger, a prominent critic of Donald Trump, if he would advise the Taoiseach on what to say to the US President when they meet this week. Arnie replied: ‘Don’t shout so loud.’
GIVEN his starstruck demeanour during his first trip to Downing Street when he volunteered that he was reminded of the movie Love Actually, let’s hope that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had the smelling salts to hand as he pressed the flesh with Arnold Schwarzenegger at the trendy South By Southwest festival in Texas yesterday.
The Taoiseach’s ten-day whistlestop tour of the States has many highlights and meeting the Terminator action hero and ex-Republican governor is near the top.
Naturally, the occasion was marked by a selfie and an obligatory tweet.