Former Tánaiste Mary Coughlan compared Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to Donald Trump, with too much emphasis social media, socks and other trivial matters, and not enough on the big questions for the country.
Ms Coughlan made her comments today on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta.
Speaking of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Mary Coughlan said that on a personal level Mr Varadkar is a gentleman.
She added “But there are very important things happening at the moment, and socks and the like, well they’re not important at all … It’s easy to be on Twitter and not to do interviews, like in the US with President Trump at the moment, but it’s not right at all.”
“There is very important work to be done, with Europe, policies … People are under huge pressure, and it’s too easy to be on Twitter.”
In the interview with Aodh Máirtín Ó Fearraigh on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, Mary Coughlan also said that the current government was neglecting rural communities, and that the independent candidates elected in the last General Election had little or no effect. She confirmed that she would not be putting her name forward for the General election.
“They have forgotten those outside of Dublin and that’s what’s upsetting people so much. It’s great that Dublin is prospering and doing well with employment, but that’s not to be seen outside of the Pale …”
Mary Coughlan said that independent candidates, despite election promises, had been ineffective:
“Did they make any difference to the country, although they were elected to the Dáil? What did they do? What power have they to support the communities that elected them? In my opinion, they have done nothing.”
The interview with Mary Coughlan was broadcast today on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta.
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