Leo Varadkar praises Taoiseach Simon Harris' work ethic but doesn't know if he'll be able to keep it up
The Dublin deputy praised Mr Harris’ work ethic since taking office declaring he has 'enormous energy'.
Leo Varadkar believes Taoiseach Simon Harris is “exceeding expectations” but doesn’t know if he can continue putting in such long hours for the next six or seven years.
The Dublin deputy praised Mr Harris’ work ethic since taking office declaring he has “enormous energy”. Mr Varadkar said most TDs also experience a “political honeymoon” when they’re first appointed Taoiseach which sees their popularity skyrocket.
He said: “I think (Simon Harris) is doing great. I always thought he’d do well and I think he’s exceeding expectations.”
When pressed on whether his work rate was sustainable, Mr Varadkar responded: “I’m not sure, it’s tough. I see the hours he’s working. I worked crazy hours and I think he’s working even longer hours than I was and can you sustain that for four, five, six, seven years?
“I don’t know but I think he can certainly sustain it for the next General Election. He has enormous energy. He has a really good political antenna. He has real empathy as well. He’s a great communicator, a great campaigner.”
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He added: “All politicians experience a period of political honeymoon (after they’re first appointed). I certainly did and I hope that lasts a long time.”
Mr Varadkar then said certain politicians such as Tanaiste Micheal Martin can remain “consistently popular” for a very long time and he hopes that’s the case for Harris.
Mr Harris took over as leader of Fine Gael after then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced he was stepping down earlier this year. Since then, Mr Varadkar returned to the backbenches but on Tuesday he revealed he would not be contesting the next General Election.
Asked about his decision on RTE Radio 1, he said: “I think most people kind of expected it when I made the decision not to continue as Taoiseach.”
He said he feels like he’s reached the stage in his life where he has made his “contribution” to politics and would like to “do something else”.
Mr Varadkar insisted he has nothing lined up but admitted he has had “interesting offers” - but remained tight-lipped on what they are.
He explained: “I was elected very young. At the age of 23 or 24, I’m over 20 years a public rep now so it hasn’t been a short shift and I never saw myself as somebody who would be a career politician. I remember saying before that I had this idea I would be doing something else by the time I’m 50. If I did run again, I would be older than 50 assuming the next Dail goes full term.”
Mr Varadkar went on to explain he doesn’t have an “exact life plan" written down. The 45-year-old, who was first elected to the Dail in 2007, also revealed he hasn’t written a CV or done any interviews yet.
In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Varadkar also said he knew that a rise in the "far right" would make its way to Ireland.
"Ireland is a normal European country, and almost every country in the European Union has experienced high levels of migration, big increases in the number of asylum seekers in recent years. We're not unique in any way, in fact, we're just one of the last to experience it.
"Up until recent years, the number of asylum seekers coming to Ireland would have been well below the European average. It's only now hitting or exceeding the European average in the last two or three years, and we've seen across Europe and across the Western world that when that happens there is a backlash.
"We did our best to plan for it, but it's not something that's easily preventable. It is something that has to be managed."
Mr Varadkar said he believes it is a phase that the Western world is going through. He explained: "There are a lot of people who either struggle to understand or oppose or can't cope with the way the world is changing, economically, demographically, becoming more globalised, becoming more interconnected, and there's going to be a backlash against that. But the future isn't theirs.
"So what we see where there's a backlash against migration around the world, whatever the problem is gets blamed on the migrants. In Ireland, one of our biggest problems is, of course, the housing shortage. So the migrants get the blame. In other countries it's crime, in other countries where there's high levels of unemployment, 'the migrants are taking our jobs'.
"Even in Greece, where there were forest fires that were blamed on the migrants. Go back in history, the plague was blamed on Jewish people and on migrants.
"Throughout history, people blaming the other, the people that don't look like me, don't behave like me, don't speak like me, they must be the cause of all my problems, and we have to call it out for what it is. That's not to say that people don't have genuine concerns.
“When the population increases dramatically, it puts pressure on services, but blaming migrants or people who look different, behave different, for all my problems or the country's problems, that's not right and not based on fact."
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