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Leo Varadkar resigns as Taoiseach

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    #392
    Northernlily
    Registered Users Posts: 2,822 ✭✭✭Northernlily


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917144#Comment_121917144

    Agree, very competent, well educated and has Director Level experience of running a company (Proctor and Gamble).

    For some reason he never gets the respect he deserves. Best candidate by a distance.



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    #393
    MegamanBoo
    Registered Users Posts: 2,583 ✭✭✭MegamanBoo


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917144#Comment_121917144

    I'd say his property developer cronies are out putting up posters for him as we speak.



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    #394
    Blazer
    Registered Users Posts: 17,434 ✭✭✭✭Blazer


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917264#Comment_121917264

    so am I lol.



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    #395
    Raoul Duke III
    Registered Users Posts: 1,364 ✭✭✭Raoul Duke III


    It seems to have been a spur of the moment thing. You can understand why - the stress must be unreal and unrelenting (and multiply that comment by an order of magnitude for the US presidency).



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    #396
    downtheroad
    Registered Users Posts: 3,037 ✭✭✭downtheroad


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917165#Comment_121917165

    Nothing burger



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    #397
    Isaac Millions Carrot
    Posts: 13,688 ✭ Isaac Millions Carrot


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917198#Comment_121917198

    Plus Tony Blair campaigning for Putin in 2000.



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    #398
    Podge_irl
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 26,886 Mod ✭✭✭✭Podge_irl


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121916639#Comment_121916639

    I'll never understand the obsession some people have with the concept of Irish politicians angling for jobs in "the EU" when it so rarely actually happens. Not a single ex-Taoiseach has gone there.

    He's relatively young, a qualified doctor and has been in a trying role for a reasonably long time over two stints.



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    #399
    ToweringPerformance
    Registered Users Posts: 1,002 ✭✭✭ToweringPerformance


    Leo's legacy of a broken society in housing alone.

    Highest ever homelessness

    Highest ever house prices

    Highest ever rents

    Highest ever evictions

    Lowest home ownership in 50 years

    But yeah he's done a great job according to FG.



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    #400
    Tefral
    Registered Users Posts: 4,356 ✭✭✭Tefral


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917303#Comment_121917303

    id have no problem voting for Paschal if he was in my electoral area. Alot needs to be done to rescue FG though.



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    #401
    thomas 123
    Registered Users Posts: 2,776 ✭✭✭thomas 123


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917217#Comment_121917217

    Apologies.



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    #402
    lumphammer2
    Registered Users Posts: 862 ✭✭✭lumphammer2


    I got the feeling that Leo Varadkar had just run his course .... he had done all there was to do in Irish politics .... my guess is he will ride off into the European Parliament sunset direction ....

    Leo's legacy was mixed ... his handling of the Brexit issue was good ... and he modernised Fine Gael to be more relevant in today's social world ... on the downside he was the guy who showed weakness on Covid 19 ... rather than holding his nerve and sticking with his South Korean style plan he succumbed to the lockdown merchants in late March 2020 and initiated a long and depressing year of on again off again long lockdowns ....

    The vaccine and later Covid policy redeemed thing a bit ... but housing and related issues continued not to be solved .... he has basically thrown in the towel and has now decided these are for others to solve ....



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    #403
    crossman47
    Registered Users Posts: 1,515 ✭✭✭crossman47


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121916967#Comment_121916967

    You clearly have only recently come to understand politics if you've forgotten Haughey, Cowen and Costello.



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    #404
    Goldengirl
    Registered Users Posts: 13,478 ✭✭✭✭Goldengirl


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917231#Comment_121917231

    Should be jailed by the fashion police for those awful skinny trousers at the very least!



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    #405
    Raoul Duke III
    Registered Users Posts: 1,364 ✭✭✭Raoul Duke III


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917346#Comment_121917346

    FG needs to answer the question of 'who are we for?'. They've badly fudged that in the past.

    I think they should be more categorical about calling themselves the party of Middle Income Ireland. People who make 40-80k p.a. - promise them that they will put their interests first and I think they would essily capture 25-30% of the vote.

    No point pretending to be social democrats, they should pitch themselves more as christian democrats (in the German sense).



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    #406
    glitterIsland
    Registered Users Posts: 470 ✭✭glitterIsland


    I never read the whole thread. It's too big now but why is he resigning?


    I wasn't a fan of him but he was diplomatic and said the right things most of the time.



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    #407
    Sudden Valley
    Registered Users Posts: 4,086 ✭✭✭Sudden Valley


    I'm not too sad to see Leo go but whether pushed or resigned I could see it resulting in a bump in the polls for FG. We will probably have the same two parties in power after the next election. I would say Martin will stick around for that.



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    #408
    degrassinoel
    Registered Users Posts: 10,743 ✭✭✭✭degrassinoel


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917360#Comment_121917360

    accepted.



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    #409
    Larbre34
    Registered Users Posts: 24,059 ✭✭✭✭Larbre34


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917388#Comment_121917388

    Haughey was a magnificent Taoiseach. His embryonic work around corporate tax and financial services laid the ground work for all of our economic success since.

    His personal behaviour and conduct was a very different matter, but don't ever confuse the two.

    Bertie Ahern remains our greatest Taoiseach for what he achieved across many fronts, in spite of personal failings.

    To me, Varadkar sits in the middle of the pile of Taoisigh from best to worst.



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    #410
    ELM327
    Registered Users Posts: 21,989 ✭✭✭✭ELM327


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917407#Comment_121917407

    If they even broadened that a little and became the make work pay party like they tried to, it would work even better.



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    #411
    awec
    Administrators Posts: 53,799 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭awec


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917200#Comment_121917200

    I know that he is another one that never really gained universal appear, but when history looks at Enda Kenny, IMO he will be judged very kindly indeed. He inherited a flaming ball of ****, steadied the ship and then got it back on track, setting the foundations for the immense growth we've seen under his successors. He was also pretty much free of scandal.

    Not perfect by any means, but I think one of the very few who can say they went out leaving the place in a better state than what they inherited and gave their successor something tangible to build upon.

    He was significantly better than Varadkar (and all the rest of them in the past 30/40 years)!



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    #412
    walshb
    Registered Users Posts: 55,633 ✭✭✭✭walshb


    Leo to me always came across a little too rash, immature, childish as regards a state leader.



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    #413
    WishUWereHere
    Registered Users Posts: 2,381 ✭✭✭WishUWereHere


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917339#Comment_121917339

    Not forgetting the most expensive hospital construction in the world ever.



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    #414
    Goldengirl
    Registered Users Posts: 13,478 ✭✭✭✭Goldengirl


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917336#Comment_121917336

    John Bruton?



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    #415
    Downlinz
    Registered Users Posts: 1,526 ✭✭✭Downlinz


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917407#Comment_121917407

    Would be a difficult sell to spend the last 13 years being the party for landlords and developers only to now try and focus in on the vote of the demographic most affected by the housing crisis.



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    #416
    ToweringPerformance
    Registered Users Posts: 1,002 ✭✭✭ToweringPerformance


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917430#Comment_121917430

    There is so much bad he has created there isn't enough space on the forum to list it all. He's completely decimated mental health services for young people also. The worst leader this country has ever had and i've lived through both Bertie and Charlie.



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    #417
    Goldengirl
    Registered Users Posts: 13,478 ✭✭✭✭Goldengirl


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121917424#Comment_121917424

    Possibly but' free of scandal' isn't a great epithet.



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    #418
    Beechwoodspark
    Registered Users Posts: 15,606 ✭✭✭✭Beechwoodspark


    Good riddance.

    Awful Taoiseach.

    Never was and never will be a leader.

    Running away is his form.

    More interested in public image and sending messages to Kylie than actual substantive issues.



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    #419
    Markus Antonius
    Registered Users Posts: 2,235 ✭✭✭Markus Antonius


    Good riddance! He was successful at running the country into the ground



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    #420
    LastApacheInjun
    Registered Users Posts: 88 ✭✭LastApacheInjun


    This is all fishy to me.

    Whatever you think about Leo's politics, the one thing we can all agree upon is that ambition ran in that man's veins, along with a practically unshakeable belief in himself. Even when he was running for election back when Lucinda Creighton was his best mate, you could tell that he believed he was going only one way - straight to the Taoiseach's seat. So assuming burnout is not the real reason, let's take a wider view.

    As others have said, there's only three reasons he might be stepping down: a) an EU job or private company job a la Nick Clegg, where he's guaranteed loads of dosh, b) leaving a sinking ship or c) a soon to break scandal. Now let's break these things down for a moment.

    1. No way it's an EU job. If you think the Dail is a leaky ship, the EU is even more so. We would have heard something.
    2. A private loadsamoney job. I mean....maybe? But Leo always stuck me as a man who would take power over money any day of the week.
    3. Sinking ship: FG might lose a few seats at the next election, but it certainly doesn't look like it'd be the washout many were expecting after the last election. I think there's a good chance FG/FF will form another coalition at the next election. And if there was a sniff of possible victory and more chances to play Taoiseach, Leo would go for it.
    4. A scandal. Now, this would have to be a fairly hefty scandal to warrant immediate resignation. Nobody appears to give a sh*t that he's not monogamous. There could be fellas coming in and out of his house all weekend and no-one would give a cr*p. There would have to be something with a tinge of illegality. A Philip Schofield situation, or a pic of him lining up coke. Anything less than that and I think Leo would try and style it out. At worst, he'd announce he was stepping down at the next election.

    However, if it's a dreadful scandal about to break, why wouldn't you try to get ahead of it at your resignation press conference? Why lie and say burnout, because when it does break it'll be perfectly obvious to everyone that you weren't telling the truth? Unless the only way to prevent it breaking is to resign, which means someone in another party, or in his own cabinet, are angling for his position.

    None of it makes any sense, and blackmail seems a bit House of Cards to be real.

    Really bizarre. Burnout, if it was any other politician, makes the most sense. It just doesn't sit with me.



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