LEO'S ATTACKS ON THE MEDIA

September 2007 – Dáil Debate on bertie ahern’S affairS

‘History will judge the Taoiseach with more sophistication than the Sunday newspapers.’

february 2010 – Dáil, Debate on unemployment

‘Could there be any people more out of touch with reality than the Irish media when they think it is appropriate to spend three weeks talking about which individual politician did or did not resign, why they did and who pushed them? What a load of rubbish.’

may 2012 – Dáil, Debate on Swimming poolS

‘Everything that is in the newspapers may be the truth but not the whole truth.’

June 2017 – Dáil, leaDerS’ QueStionS

‘If I had to ascertain with Government Ministers every piece of gossip that appeared in the newspapers, I would have no time to get any work done.’

September 2017 – Dáil, leaDerS’ QueStionS

‘I am also a little bit amused to hear Deputy Burton refer to my love of the media and their love of me. On the rare occasion that I open the Sunday newspapers and flick through them I do not feel that they love me or that I love them for that matter.’

november 2017 – Dáil, leaDerS’ QueStionS

‘Just because it is in the newspapers again and again does not mean it is factually correct.’

october 2017 – Dáil, on the Death of liam coSgrave

‘It was said Liam Cosgrave marked his Cabinet papers with the same attention to detail that he marked the racing page in the Irish Independent and, of course, racing was his great interest outside politics. It was noted that the racing page of the newspaper was the only media output to which he really paid attention – a wise man perhaps.’

January 2018 – in DavoS, on trump’S DavoS Speech

‘It was okay, it was all right. As a politician I can be sympathetic about his feelings about the media.’