Varadkar’s partner is ‘delighted’ at his decision to step away
OUTGOING Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said his partner Matt Barrett is ‘delighted’ he is stepping down as leader of the country.
Mr Varadkar made the shock announcement on Wednesday before returning to the home he shares with consultant cardiologist Mr Barrett after 10pm.
He said he then ‘had a takeaway, had a chat with my partner’ but has yet to discuss the decision with his wider family.
‘Matt’s delighted, this life was never really for him,’ he said.
Mr Barrett was with the Taoiseach in Washington DC last weekend with some other members of Mr Varadkar’s inner circle.
Mr Barrett was previously at the centre of controversy after posting satirical content on social media while attending King Charles’s coronation last year.
In recent times the Taoiseach said that the pair
‘This life was never for him’
had ‘pulled back’ from publicly sharing details of their relationship.
‘For a couple of years, we were quite public in our relationship. We have pulled back from that a bit,’ he said last year.
The Taoiseach said that he made the final decision ‘at the weekend’ while in Washington DC, but didn’t mention it to US President Joe Biden.
Mr Varadkar said he knew he needed to make a decision ahead of the party’s Ard Fheis next month.
‘Once the decision was made in my mind, it was important to act on it, particularly with the Ard Fheis coming up.
‘That’s a particular moment where I would have either had to set out our thinking, my vision, my ideas for the next two years or five years or not and that kind of focused the mind for me, but it was something I’ve been weighing up, really since Christmas and New Year,’ he said.
The Taoiseach reiterated he was being honest that there was no other motive for him departing office other than feeling he had given all that he could to the role.
‘For as long as I’ve been in politics, there have been people that don’t believe me, even when often I’ve been the only person telling the truth…
‘In terms of my own decision, my own reasons, there’s no one event, there’s no one thing... I appreciate the need for journalism to have a thing or a moment. In real life, it’s often not like that,’ he said. ‘There comes a time when you need to move on and you need to make space for new people, new ideas, and new energy and that’s what I’m going to do.’
He said he has yet to decide whether he will stand for re-election to the next Dáil.
‘I’m not resigning my seat,’ he said. ‘I’m looking forward to fulfilling my mandate... I’m looking forward to getting involved in campaigns again in my constituency.’
He added that he will make a decision on the next election ‘over the next few months’.