Leo Varadkar steps down as Irish PM

He’s not aging well, at all.

Back to the back room.

That Hamas-loving hellhole is unravelling nicely.

Got a little puffy, didn't he?

Leo is a puss.

Why is he so fat?

Leo and Jacinda Ardern should have a kiki.

[quote]That Hamas-loving hellhole is unravelling nicely.

Yes, they should commit mass murder because they want to pilfer someone else’s land. There’s quite a lot of money in that.

Meanwhile—quality of life; that hellhole Ireland #15, USA #23, noble Israel #43. So sorry hasbara.

The Dáil will elect a new taoiseach next month

Speak English people.

He waited till after he had his St Patrick’s day fun at the White House.

Glad he got us a gay head of state, but he and his party, Fine Gael (pronounce fin-uh Gail) are TERRIBLE. There's a terrible housing crisis in Ireland, Brexit was not good to the Irish consumer, and there's generally no vision for a country with a fuckton of potential and one of the worst infrastructures in the EU.

He was never head of state, r11.

Head of government, tightass.

Presumably this is because of the failed referendum where they made dubious proposals to change references to women and the family in the constitution.

[quote]Brexit was not good to the Irish consumer,

Because the Irish were such fierce proponents of brexit.

I thought Ireland was still in the EU. It's Northern Ireland that Brexit-ed with the UK, correct?

Northern Ireland got dragged along by its occupier

Are the nudes about to leak?

The Irish voted to stay in the EU in the late 90's, despite their version of Johnny Carson at the time, Gay Byrne, campaigning hard to leave.

The problem is the Irish economy is stupidly more tied to the UK than it is to France or Germany, so Brexit has caused a lot of consumer problems. Amazon is a total pain, stocks at stores like Tesco are uneven with many empty shelves, etc. etc.

There was never a referendum on Ireland's membership of the EU in the 1990s, r19. Brexit had actually enhanced the Irish economy.

I wonder why the Irish, who were invaded by foreigners and treated like third class citizens in their own country, would support the Palestinians, who were invaded by foreigners and are treated like third class citizens in their own country?

Who can truly say? It must remain one of life’s great mysteries.

This is a good article on the context of the failed referendum to rewrite references to women and the family in the Irish constitution.

[quote]In 2011 O’Malley was part of a group of academics who set up We the Citizens, a precursor to citizens’ assemblies, but he now believes that state-funded non-governmental organisations have “captured” the process, leading in some cases to unrepresentative deliberations and unwise recommendations.

Gee, I wonder which unrepresentative state-funded groups he's referring to.

More evidence from the pro-Hamas hellhole:

Yes, there were referendums.

Ireland is not pro-Hamas and believes the Israeli state should exist, no matter how much the Israeli media spams other messaging, but I digress...

The reason Ireland does so well is it's a relative tax haven and most multi-nationals run their EU rev and taxes through there, so the GDP is falsely high. The wealth is not getting to everyone by any stretch of the imagination.

And while I'm thinking about it, anyone who thinks Brexit is good for Ireland given it nearly fucked over 25 years of The Good Friday Agreement is a complete and utter dumbass or a Unionist cunt. If it weren't for the Biden administration, the UK would have killed the deal and the border would have become enflamed again. All you need to do is look at Lyra McKee's killing to see the region is still a delicate powder keg.

I’m confused why he’s leaving. I haven’t been paying too close attention. I’ve just heard about the anti Israel stuff. It was a big deal he was elected. Can someone explain why he’s leaving. Ireland’s politics seem like a bit of a mess.

Not on EU membership, r24.

he's a whore and don't I know it

The European Economic Community (EEC) became the European Union (EU) in 1993 under the Maastricht Treaty (formally the Treaty on European Union). Ireland held a referendum on the Maastricht Treaty on 18 June 1992. The referendum was passed with 69.1% of the electorate voting yes. The Maastricht Treaty paved the way for the creation of an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) comprising some, but not all, EU Member States. This is now known as the eurozone or euro area.

r27, the referendum on the constitutional changes failing is widely viewed as an embarrassment for the government. This is similar, but not a 1:1 match, to David Cameron resigning after Brexit passed.

R26 - as appalling Brexit is it is not responsible for young men shooting a woman dead. The man with the gun has sole responsibility for the death of Lyra.

Fuck off, unionist r32.

Ireland was also pro-Hitler. They can always be counted on to root for the wrong side.

A hard border between NI and the Republic as a result of Brexit would have nullified the Good Friday Agreement, r32. It would get violent again, and I used McKee as an example of how these tensions are ready to bubble to the surface again.

[/quote]However, in the final analysis, de Valera drew the line in 1939. The Irish Government did not recognise the German annexation of the rump Czechoslovakia in March 1939. Hitler’s employment of force, coupled with the absence of a German national claim on these regions, crossed the Rubicon. Until late 1938, the retention of Bewley may have served de Valera’s purposes, but the baring of Hitler’s true intent and Bewley’s unabashed apologia for the Hitlerite excesses transformed him into a liability. Worse, in an irrevocable bout of insubordination, Bewley criticised de Valera’s foreign policy as pro-British, anti-Irish and anti-German. He had to go. De Valera hastily prepared the ground for neutrality as the war clouds gathered over Europe.

Leo Varadkar

Fine Gael leader

Taoiseach

It took me a second before my mind clicked that the article was about Ireland and not some random eastern european country.

[quote]the referendum on the constitutional changes failing is widely viewed as an embarrassment for the government. This is similar, but not a 1:1 match, to David Cameron resigning after Brexit passed.

Would that American presidents would step down after embarrassments.

[quote] A hard border between NI and the Republic as a result of Brexit would have nullified the Good Friday Agreement, [R32]. It would get violent again, and I used McKee as an example of how these tensions are ready to bubble to the surface again.

Lyra was murdered by a man with a gun. The man has full responsibility for her murder.

Ok R31. I’ve read about the failed referendums and they seem… pretty mild? Certainly nothing to resign over. Chalk it up to failed messaging, figure out a way to correct the messaging and move on. American politicians wouldn’t even give something like this a second thought. He’s gotten two huge liberal referendums through, gay marriage and abortion. That’s a huge accomplishment in one of the most conservative English speaking countries in the world. And his coalition is expected to stay in power, correct? Is he throwing a bit of a diva fit over this?

What I find far more troubling is Ireland’s long history of supporting Hamas even to the point of meeting with the leader of Hamas, which is quite shocking. UK “occupying” Ireland is nothing like Israel and Hamas. There is no equivalency there. It’s strange to me that the Irish would come to this conclusion.

Varadakar also had a weird appearance at the White House this week, chiding Biden for Israel support. What’s going on with him?

[quote] UK “occupying” Ireland is nothing like Israel and Hamas.

Israel has better weapons that's true, although they are also using the starvation model employed by England in Ireland.

The Irish understand what occupation is R40, it's that simple. They also fought back, like Palestine.

Why are you arguing with a straw man, r39? Is it so you can keep riffing on Margaret Thatcher quotes?

Nobody in Ireland supported Hamas after October 7. This is too nuanced of a conversation than I believe DL has an appetite for.

Vradakar was at The White House for the annual presentation of shamrocks to the President of the United States for St. Patrick's Day. It's a tradition. He was pressured by many not to go, but went anyway. The Irish have a spectrum of opinions about the conflict, and it's in the interests of the Israeli media to make the Irish sound like Hamas-loving extremists in order to keep the EU on side. Again, too nuanced of a conversation than I think DL is capable of having (not the people, the medium).

Vradakar is also falling on his sword for his massively unpopular party, Fine Gael, so they have time to reconstruct themselves before they call the next election. They have to do this within the next year.

I just read an article from a week ago saying that he wasn’t in any real danger regarding the referendums failing though, and that his resigning is a surprise. Weird.

It was cute when Leo and his fellow gay prime minister Xavier Bettel and their husbands hung out together.

Fourgy!

R43 is an expert on Irish politics but can’t spell the Prime Minister’s name correctly.

Yes, I'm a cunt with quick fingers. Thanks for pointing that out for your little dopamine hit. Enjoy.

Still cracks me up that Liz Truss called him the "tea sock".

It’s strange that Ireland fought against being in a political union with the UK, but then agreed to a political union with the EU. If they would rejoin the UK, it would erase the border with Northern Ireland and they would get the benefit of the king as head of state.

There was no better composite figure to depict the substanceless-ness of post-Elizabethan, post-Brexit Britain than Liz Truss during The Queen's funeral and associated ceremonies.

[quote] Yes, I'm a cunt with quick fingers. Thanks for pointing that out for your little dopamine hit. Enjoy.

You didn’t make a typo from quick fingers, you don’t know how his surname is spelt. It’s 8 letters long. 8 letters.

For you, R50.

Starting to think UKIP's own Angry Young Brit, failed painter, might be in on this thread.

R53, the UK and the world will always have to deal with those Irish who speak of the potato famine as though it happened earlier today.

And with good reason, r55. The consequences last to this day. There are still fewer people in Ireland than there were in the 1840's. The population never recovered. Ireland would have been as populous as The Netherlands if they weren't forced to leave by starvation.

Link substantiating the population claim.

R56, the people who caused it died a long time ago leaving no one alive who has any responsibility for it, so no, there’s not a good reason to speak of it as though it happened earlier today.

R58 nobody speaks about it like it happened earlier today, you’re just too dense to understand that talking about modern history and traumatic events in the history of one’s country is an important part of any sort of National history.

People like r58 vote, and that's scary.

Is O’zempic right for you?

Ireland, where Hamas are just like the 'Ra.

Cause it's as easy to hate the Jews as it is the Brits.

"It was cute when Leo and his fellow gay prime minister Xavier Bettel and their husbands hung out together."

Sloppy bottoms all round.

Here's a video of Nigel Farage saying "up the ra" just for you, R62.

Does that mean, r50, that when the UK was in the EU and there was no border between Ireland and the UK that the Queen was Ireland's head of state?

What? What the fuck? ^^NO.

I wonder how Plastic Paddy Joe Biden truly felt about Leo.

[quote]And with good reason, [R55]. The consequences last to this day. There are still fewer people in Ireland than there were in the 1840's. The population never recovered. Ireland would have been as populous as The Netherlands if they weren't forced to leave by starvation.

Where did all these people live?

Schenectady, Rose.

[quote] they would get the benefit of the king as head of state.

That's a benefit?

And they'd have to take Camilla too.

DEALBREAKER!

R55 you talk some shite

If you think being in the EU is the same thing as being part of the British Empire, it might just be better to let the educated adults post.

sorry R55 that was for R53

Leo's partner is a greedy bottom. Leo doesn't fill that gape.

actually I'm the one talking shite as I don't seem to have the ability to reply to the right person!!!!

Ireland is a country so immersed in Catholicism its army of nuns threw the bodies of dead babies born to unmarried mothers into sceptic tanks and in 2012 its doctors allowed a woman to die from sepsis blood poisoning rather than intervene and surgically assist the miscarriage she was having,

Is it really farfetched to think the country who sent condolences to Germany upon Hitler's death might have a deepseated prejudice against Jews, the people who killed their beloved Jesus? Let's call it an "unconscious bias".

Could that "unconscious bias" be responsible for Varadkar's bullishness at the response to his dreadful statement about Emily Hand being lost and found - a girl who watched her stepmother murdered and was held hostage and starved.

Of course the Irish living in America aren't colonisers like the Jews living in Israel expelled from North African and Arab countries.

That tweet was so fucking out of touch- (with the rest of the world). But Leo wouldn't want to offend the Hamas population now in Ireland.

As much as I like you people you know nothing about my country. Irish people mostly support Palestine because they see alot of similarities between what England did to us and what Israel is doing to Palestine. Starting with Cromwell slicing up Irish homes to reward his soldiers. It plays into our vanity as well being underdogs.

Two wrongs make a right then, R78.

And what have you to say about those in Ireland burning down houses or anywhere destined for asylum accommodation? Very black and tans!

The Irish are trying to get in on the saintly “conscience of the world” thing that the Swedes have been at for decades and who also enjoyed a rather warm relationship with the Third Reich.

The Irish are now of a mind to condemn the Catholic Church but just love to learn about Islam.

They'll learn about Islam once they're on the receiving end of Islamic Jihadi terrorism.

They've had that, R82. The guy who beheaded one gay guy and tried but failed with another. But Ireland is so desperate to be 'nice to Brown people'.

Those are smaller one offs, R83, they can brush off. It's harder when buildings and buses start blowing up.

I wonder when the other shoe is going to drop. My bet is on video evidence of drug use and having sex with someone barely legal.

R85 what’s with all the trolls on this website my god.

Not to start another round of Datalounge Medical Detectives, but his face looks unusually puffy. Maybe his health is the reason he's stepping down.

Good. People hated him.

[quote] My bet is on video evidence of drug use and having sex with someone barely legal.

His cryptic comments could be interpreted that way.

His pocket gay partner has had sufficient. He didn't like being First Lady.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Speak English, people.

Really? Can you not get your head around the fact that Irish, although not spoken by the majority, is the official language of the state, and is compulsory in schools?

Leo and Matthew taking a dip.

Fuck the Murdoch Sun, r93.

His partner is cute. He's punching above his weight.

He was prime minister, r95, he's a pretty high achiever.

He trained as a doctor before entering politics

He’s a Prime Minister R95. His c list, busted mug, also ran house husband is punching WELL above his weight.

The house husband is also a physician.

Specifically, the house husband is a cardiologist.

Everyone in that picture is drunk.

I'd still love to be fucked by both of them.

"He trained as a doctor before entering politics"

Now he's a politician, entering a doctor!

'Physician, heal thyself!'

Leo's partner after yet another strep infection

Why is Darren Stevens Mother in the background of the OP's photo? She's about to have another one of her sick headaches.