‘I’D ALLOW ALL GARDAI HAVE GUNS’

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: As he prepares to become Taoiseach again Leo Varadkar speaks to John Lee

INCOMING Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has revealed that he would support any request from the Garda Commissioner to arm rank-and-file members of An Garda Síochána.

In an interview with the Irish Mail on Sunday, the Tánaiste was asked if he thought the State needed an armed force in the wake of recent attacks on gardaí. Mr Varadkar said that he would not block such a move if it was sought by Drew Harris.

INCOMING Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has revealed that he would support any request from the Garda Commissioner to arm rank-and-file members of An Garda Síochána.

In an exclusive interview with the Irish Mail on Sunday, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar hit out at the ‘really appalling’ scenes in Ballyfermot earlier this week when two officers were hospitalised after being attacked in the early hours of the morning.

When asked if he thought the State needs an armed force in the wake of recent highprofile attacks on gardaí, Mr Varadkar said

he would say ‘yes’ and not ‘block’ a move to arm gardaí if asked to do so by Commissioner Drew Harris.

The Fine Gael leader, who is due to take over as Taoiseach from Micheál Martin in three weeks, told the MoS: ‘That’s very much a decision for the Garda Commissioner rather than for a politician.

‘But certainly if the Garda Commissioner came to me or came to the Minister of Justice and said, “We think that we need guards to be armed, or that we need more guards to be armed”, well, then I would, absolutely, say yes. But that should be a call for the commissioner and his team rather than politicians. But I certainly

‘People should feel safe in their homes’

wouldn’t do anything to block that if he felt that was the right approach.’

In a wide-ranging interview in which he outlines his priorities for when he reassumes the office of Taoiseach, Mr Varadkar:

■ Promises to continue to cut income taxes for middleincome earners;

■ Insists the Coalition can be re-elected despite polls showing a surge in support for Sinn Féin;

■ Warns that a Sinn Féin-led ‘populist’ coalition would bring ‘misery’ to the country;

■ Reveals he has learned from observing Micheál Martin’s ‘empathy’ in office;

■ Says he believes he can establish a good working relationship with British prime minister Rishi Sunak, and that their shared Indian heritage can help restore Anglo-Irish relations.

Addressing growing concerns over the rise in street violence, Mr Varadkar said that while data do not show a spike in crime, he accepts ‘people don’t feel as safe on our streets, and even in their homes as they did previously’.

He told the MoS: ‘Some of that might be due to the snapback effect after the pandemic and an increase in public order issues and so on, and that does worry me. People should feel safe in their homes and they should feel safe on the streets. And we’ve a responsibility to make sure that they do.’

Responding to questions about the assault of two gardaí in Dublin this week, the Tánaiste and Enterprise Minister said: ‘Well, one thing I saw in Ballyfermot the other day was the rally in support of the guards. Let’s not forget that. But I saw the other events, too, and that was really appalling.’

Mr Varadkar also said there is a need to provide officers with body cameras as soon as possible.

‘One thing we definitely need for the guards… is the body cameras. We’ve got to get that done soon so that will make their job safer,’ he said.

He will resume the office of Taoiseach on December 17 in what the Government hopes will be a smooth transfer of power between the Tánaiste and his Fianna Fáil Coalition partner.

In what he said will be his last major media interview before he reassumes the top job, Mr Varadkar says he believes he can establish a good working relationship with yet another new Tory prime minister.

‘I’ve never met Rishi Sunak. We both come from an

Indian background, or at least both of us are of Indian heritage and both our dads were GPs,’ he said.

‘So, you know, lots of similarities, [but] lots of differences as well,’ he says before adding with a wry smile: ‘I’m not a billionaire, for example, but I look forward to meeting him and I think he’s a serious politician.’