{"id":5829,"date":"2025-09-07T14:01:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T14:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/5829\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T14:01:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T14:01:07","slug":"varadkar-questioned-if-lengthy-leo-the-leak-garda-inquiry-was-someones-revenge-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/5829\/","title":{"rendered":"Varadkar questioned if lengthy \u2018Leo the leak\u2019 Garda inquiry was \u2018someone\u2019s revenge\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former taoiseach Leo Varadkar<\/a> has questioned whether the lengthy Garda<\/a> investigation into his leaking of a draft GP contract was \u201crevenge\u201d for his intervention in the Garda whistleblower controversy. <\/p>\n

In his new book, Mr Varadkar also writes about an incident where an online video of him kissing a man in a nightclub emerged just before his second term as taoiseach. <\/p>\n

Extracts of the book, Speaking My Mind, were published in the Sunday Independent.<\/p>\n

Former Fine Gael<\/a> leader Mr Varadkar was taoiseach between 2017 and 2020 and again from late 2022 until April last year.<\/p>\n

A Garda investigation in the \u2018Leo the Leak\u2019 controversy began after Mr Varadkar confirmed he had in 2019 leaked a copy of the proposed GP contract agreed with the Irish Medical Organisation to his then friend Dr Maiti\u00fa \u00d3 Tuathail. <\/p>\n

He was president of the rival, and now defunct, National Association of General Practitioners.<\/p>\n

Details of the leak were first reported by Village Magazine in October 2020.<\/p>\n

It would be July 2022 before it emerged that Mr Varadkar would not face criminal charges over the leak when it was confirmed the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had concluded its consideration of the matter and had not recommended a prosecution.<\/p>\n

In his book Mr Varadkar writes of his frustration during the long investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Sometimes I wish they\u2019d just prosecute me,\u2019 I said to my solicitor in frustration. At least then the wait would be over, and I\u2019d have some rights. Once charged, you\u2019ve loads of rights; you get to know who\u2019s accused you and what the evidence is. As a suspect, you\u2019ve none.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Varadkar also writes of his relief at learning the Garda investigation was over and a file had been sent to the DPP.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was relieved. After more than a year, the Garda finally had their work done.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also writes: \u201cAlthough I wouldn\u2019t have to, I had decided to resign if I was charged. I\u2019d told Simon Coveney. There was no way I\u2019d be willing to put my colleagues, my party and myself through that. You can\u2019t have a taoiseach standing trial. Not in Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Varadkar writes: \u201cIn the end confirmation that he would not be prosecuted came several months before he was elected taoiseach for the second time in December 2022. <\/p>\n

\u201cI still struggle to understand why so much Garda time and money was spent on an unnecessary investigation. I never felt any effort was being made to expedite it, given my position and the sensitivities involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also writes: \u201cSometimes, in darker moments, I wondered if the lengthy, expensive investigation was someone\u2019s revenge for my role in the McCabe affair, and the resignation of former commissioners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Varadkar also writes about a video of him kissing a man who is not his partner that emerged online as he was about to assume the office of taoiseach at the end of 2022. <\/p>\n

He says it happened in Lost Lane nightclub, writing: \u201cI was soon to become taoiseach again. I\u2019m not sure how many heads of government go to nightclubs, especially in their own countries, but I suppose I wasn\u2019t your average head of government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Varadkar writes: \u201cThe night got a bit out of hand. I ran into a guy I\u2019d met a couple of times before. \u2018Conor\u2019 [not his real name] and I kissed briefly on the dance floor. Matt [my partner] and Graeme [a friend] noticed someone recording us but were unable to grab their phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says that the following morning he was told by then government adviser Chris Donoghue that a video was circulating on WhatsApp and it was on TikTok. <\/p>\n

Mr Varadkar writes: \u201cIn many ways, I was lucky. The LGBT community \u2013 even those who despised my politics or their perception of them \u2013 rallied behind me as never before. They objected to a safe space being violated, the breach of privacy, and any attempt at shaming.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also writes: \u201cI\u2019m lucky to live in Ireland, where attitudes are more European \u2013 in a good way \u2013 and the media and politicians tend to respect each other\u2019s privacy.\u200b\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Varadkar\u2019s book is being published on September 10th. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former taoiseach Leo Varadkar has questioned whether the lengthy Garda investigation into his leaking of a draft GP…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,3775,61,60,3581,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-5829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-an-garda-siochana","9":"tag-fine-gael","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-leo-varadkar","13":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}