I was never subjected to violence ...but I was the boy with dark skin & funny name
Varadkar on struggles trying to fit in as child
TANAISTE Leo Varadkar has opened up about his Indian heritage, admitting he was treated differently growing up as a person of colour.
The Fine Gael leader said the white, Catholic Ireland of the 1980s made it difficult for the child of a multi-cultural family to fit in with his peers.
In RTE’S All Walks Of Life Leo reveals: “I did grow up in what was a very white, mono-cultural Ireland. I was the guy with the dark skin and the funny name.
“And even though I don’t think I was ever subjected to any kind of racial violence or anything like that, there is an othering, of being a person of colour.
“It’s often just the little things like people asking you where you’re from.
“You’ll get asked, you know, do you ever go back to India.
“I was born in the Rotunda, I grew up in West Dublin. I don’t go back to India any more than I go back to Waterford.
“No harm is meant by it, it’s just ignorance in many ways but it does make you feel different.” Varadkar, 42, admitted growing up as the child of an Indian doctor and an Irish nurse “definitely” made him feel different.
He said: “I suppose the main thing I wanted to do was to fit in. This is long before I realised I was gay as well so that kind of came further down the line. But that’s one of the reasons why I probably didn’t take much of an interest in India or being half-indian… I think most kids just want to fit in.”
The man who made history as Ireland’s youngest Taoiseach also tells how he made the decision to come out to himself as gay while walking the Camino. He reveals: “It had a real sense of being on a pilgrimage… it’s that time to think and that time to reflect.
“It comes to the point where you run out of things to say to each other and you run out of things to listen to on your earphones.
“You have to have a conversation with yourself, so I found that really useful in that sense. I’m probably due another Camino soon.”
And on his critics, the Tanaiste says: “Sometimes your critics are right and you do have to sometimes consider that.”
Reflecting on Fine Gael’s performance in the last General Election, Varadkar admits: “Everyone makes mistakes. One of my character flaws is sometimes I’m too blunt and I say things that come across insensitive when they’re not intended in that way.
“So I’m sure there’s lots of things I could have done better.”
All Walks Of Life is on RTE One on Friday at 8.30pm.