India connection

Congratulations to Leo Varadkar on being elected leader of Fine Gael, gay son of an Indian immigrant.

His old friend Lucinda Creighton was once spoken about in terms of being a possible future leader of the party. She lost the Fine Gael party whip for not supporting the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Act 2013, which was brought in by Fine Gael partly in response to the protests after the death of Indian immigrant Savita Halappanavar from sepsis, although obstetricians agreed afterwards there was no evidence that termination of her pregnancy by abortion would have saved her life.

What if Savita hadn’t died? What if Lucinda had entered the Fine Gael leadership contest if she were still a TD and member of Fine Gael? I wonder would we now be talking about Ireland’s first female taoiseach?

It’s quite remarkable, for very different reasons, how India played such a role in the selection of our next taoiseach,

Tommy Roddy, Salthill, Co. Galway.