Opposition trying to exploit wind farm ‘joke’, says Varadkar
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has accused his political opponents of exploiting his ‘anecdote’ about intervening on behalf of Donald Trump in a planning dispute.
Mr Varadkar insisted in New York yesterday that his comments were ‘not a gaffe’ but later said people would make what they liked of it, especially political foes.
‘I was telling a humorous anecdote about something that happened four years ago. The funny part of it, of course, is that the President was giving me credit and praise for something that I didn’t actually do.
‘I didn’t have a clear recollection of it at the time [on Thursday at the Speaker’s lunch in the White House] but I have gone back now and checked with my staff and checked the records, and found that I did not contact Clare County Council, either verbally or in writing.
‘I did however contact Fáilte. I contacted the CEO by email. Failte Ireland is, as you know, Ireland’s tourism agency but it has a statutory remit to look at planning applications to see if they could have a negative impact on tourism.
‘They were aware of the development already and did make representations to the council.’
He did not say when the representations were made – or whether they had been made before his representation to Fáilte as the Minister for Tourism. To support his contention, Mr Varadkar’s officials released a copy of the email he sent in 2014, when he was tourism minister, to the boss of Fáilte Ireland, Shaun Quinn, asking him if the organisation shared Mr Trump’s concerns about the ‘impact on landscapes and tourism’.
The email says: ‘I don’t want to get into the nitty gritty of it but I did commit to asking Fáilte to review the planning applications or development plan for Clare as appropriate with a view to making observations if the agency shared his concerns about the impact on landscapes and tourism.’
Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley yesterday said he would never ring an official about a planning application and any representations should be in writing as the Doonbeg controversy rumbled on yesterday. He was speaking in reference to the Taoiseach’s previous statement in which he said he phoned Clare County Council to discuss the planning dispute.
‘The Taoiseach full well knows that in relation to a planning matter like that, you don’t make phone calls. He’s an experienced politician, he knows the legal procedures to be followed.’ He was speaking on RTÉ yesterday.
But the Taoiseach yesterday insisted that his actions were ‘all entirely within procedure, and all entirely above board’.
He added: ‘It was an occasion when people were telling stories and anecdotes and exchanging wit. I wouldn’t characterise it as a gaffe. But I realise that in politics there are people who will try to make a controversy over almost any remarks.’
Man with a plan: The email from Leo to Fáilte Ireland
Asked if it had damaged his reputation as a straight talker with the Irish people, reviving memories of Enda Kenny’s unreliable stories, Mr Varadkar commented: ‘No, look I’ll continue to be a straight talker. And I will continue to be spontaneous and off the cuff on occasion... It may mean, on occasion, that I don’t remember something that happened four years ago.’
Asked whether he had put his foot in his mouth in a spectacular fashion, he said it was still his position he had not made a gaffe. But he added: ‘It’s for other people to make that judgment. But this is politics, I do have political opponents, and there are those who will take any remark and try to make a controversy out of it.
‘It was all above board’