Sir, – Well, we have grown up even if it did take much longer than it should have. Now, can Leo go on to be the first openly gay party leader or even taoiseach? – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN CASSERLY,
Bishopstown,
Cork.
Sir, – Leo Varadkar’s thoughtful interview with Miriam O’Callaghan made me think about the forthcoming marriage equality referendum. All political parties are supportive, in theory, of the Yes campaign. But concern has been expressed that complacency about positive polls on the issue may yet scupper our endeavour. Actions speak louder than words. Unless the political party machines, on the ground, nationwide are mobilised to actively campaign for a Yes vote, we will fail. I am fearful, a year out from a general election, that the political parties, whose focus will be on re-election and not marriage equality, will not step up and do the work required to deliver a positive referendum result. Will the political parties, and their leaders follow through and honour their commitment to marriage equality? I, for one, will not hold my breath. – Yours, etc,
GER PHILPOTT,
Dublin 3.
Sir, – I can't believe that Leo Varadkar has come out and admitted that he doesn't listen to Liveline. – Yours, etc,
MARTIN CAREY,
Athlone,
Co Westmeath.
Sir, – What does it tell us about our society that LGBT people in public office feel obliged to declare their preferred sexual interest? Though maybe in a democracy we can now expect that all heterosexual people in public office – and media commentators – will also dutifully divulge their own sexual preferences. Another feather in the cap of prurience. – Yours, etc,
EUGENE TANNAM,
Dublin 24.
Sir, – What does it say about our maturity as a country that the mention of a Minister's sexual orientation is deemed worthy of being main headline news not five minutes after his interview on Miriam Meets? – Yours, etc,
SHEELAGH MOONEY,
Naas,
Co Kildare.
Sir, – Well done to The Irish Times for not having an "I am gay, says Leo Varadkar" headline splashed across the front of your newspaper today. I would think the only thing people want to know about Mr Varadkar is whether or not he can sort out the mess that is the HSE. – Yours, etc,
JOE HARVEY,
Glenageary, Co Dublin.
Sir, – It was a brave move of Leo Varadkar to speak publicly about his sexual orientation. Victory in the forthcoming referendum can only be secured if each and every member of the gay community becomes a self-elected public representative for the cause of marriage equality. It is time to come out and speak up! Talk to your parents, your siblings, your grandparents, your nieces and nephews, your cousins, your friends and your work colleagues. Tell them why they should vote yes; respond to their concerns with reason, evidence and respect. These are the people who can realise Mr Varadkar’s hope “to be an equal citizen in his own country”. – Yours, etc,
Dr FIONÁN DONOHOE,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 9.
Sir, – I am coming out. I cannot live a lie any longer. I voted for Fine Gael at the last general election. Phew, that’s a weight off my chest.
I am determined to find political happiness. I will seek out a political relationship that I can be proud of. – Yours,etc,
DECLAN DOYLE,
Lisdowney,
Kilkenny.
Sir, – Won’t Ireland be a great little country when a Minister does not have to take to the airwaves and disclose his sexual preference? I live in hope. – Yours, etc,
FRANK BYRNE,
Terenure, Dublin 6W.
Sir, – Leo Varadkar has “come out” as a being gay. As a gay man I think this is brilliant. However a part of me feels sad that his “coming out” – and isn’t that a peculiar expression in itself – has made such headline news across all media.
Why the need for gay people to “come out?” Do heterosexual people “come out”?
I know many young gay people today will welcome Leo Varadkar’s announcement and it certainly will come up in conversations in households all across the country. It may even help some gay people to “come out”, if that is what they wish to do. However, the media attention to this will die down and the conversation will move on and rightly so.
Now what were we talking about? It’s the economy, stupid, or more specifically, in Leo’s case, hospital waiting lists and the numbers of people on trolleys. – Yours, etc,
TOMMY RODDY,
Lower Salthill,
Galway.
Sir, – Given the media’s positive coverage of Leo Varadkar’s declaration of his sexual identity and the public’s blasé acceptance of same, it’s clear that it would be far more courageous in the current climate for a Minister to come out in favour of fully metered water charges. – Yours, etc,
STEVE CORONELLA,
Shankill, Co Dublin.
Sir, – There is always a balance to be struck for a gay person in the public eye. On one hand they have the opportunity to provide an example for other people dealing with the same emotional issues about whether to be open about their sexuality. But on the other hand the emotional impact of revealing your sexuality is something a heterosexual person will never understand because they never have to explain themselves, not just once but repeatedly for the rest of their life. People say, and with sincerity, that it’s no big deal, while never really understanding just how big a deal it actually is.
The undercurrent of course is that LGBT people should be grateful that heterosexual people have no “problem” with us, rather than asking why would a LGBT person have to fear someone finding out they are gay at all in the first place.
It is interesting too that despite his own experience of being marginalised, in the sense that Mr Varadkar only now felt able to be open about one of the most fundamental aspects of his personality. Remarkably his experience doesn’t seem to have had any impact on tempering his willingness to put the boot into a range of other people who also find their lives marginalised through circumstances they had no say over, such as being born into a dysfunctional family or an economically deprived area. Thanks to the decisions made by Mr Varadkar and this Government in 2015 those people have less chance to rise above their circumstances than they ever had before.
Since 2011, he has been a Cabinet Minister and I think most people would be at loss to set out anything he has actually achieved so far.
His time as transport minister was a period of paper-shuffling blandness where none of the embedded problems of the Irish transport system were addressed. Similarly to date, his time as Minister for Health is also noticeable for its lack of ambition. The location of the children’s hospital is still not decided. Absolutely nothing has been done to provide a health service that is free at the point of use that would in fact cost less than any other system, when one compares the price per head the Irish taxpayer spends on health compared to the level of service other countries with a free health system provides. The most vulnerable in Irish society are still having to battle for a medical card despite a promise that they would not have to. Ireland’s health system can’t even rise to the most basic provision of a “baby box”, similar to that provided to every new mother in Finland, to ensure that at least for the first few weeks of life, a child, no matter what circumstances they are born into, will have a safe, clean space of their own and the supplies needed for those essential first few weeks when the seeds of so many future problems are sown, and could instead be avoided.
So, lest anyone claim to be surprised later on, no-one should be under any delusion that any experience of being marginalised due to his sexuality will filter down into a more compassionate conservatism from Mr Varadkar. The reality is that he will still continue to support and vote for every single decision of the Government of which he has been a member since it was formed to chip away at the welfare state safety nets and concentrate the wealth of the country into fewer and fewer hands.
The media coverage of Mr Varadkar coming out is disingenuous when the same level of attention isn’t directed to his actual decisions as part of the Government and anyone expecting the LGBT element to bring a softer or more nuanced edge to his politics will be disappointed. – Yours, etc,
DESMOND FitzGERALD,
Canary Wharf,
London.