This is how the Irish Independent described the demeanour of Leo Varadkar when he meet Donald Trump. He was a fawning weakling who was eager to please a bully.
This is why he later blurted out a story about how he interfered in a Clare County Council’s planning decision about a wind farm. It gave a glimpse into how the hidden networks of power operate in Ireland.
In 2014, Varadkar took a direct call from Trump because he ‘had a problem’. He wanted to stop a wind-farm being built near his Doonbeg golf course.
Varadkar immediately agreed to help and as he said ‘I endeavoured to do what I could do about it and I rang the county council and inquired about the planning permission and subsequently the planning permission was declined and the wind farm was never built’
The legal procedure for making representation on planning applications is to put your case in writing. It then goes on a file and the public can see who intervened in the process.
But by making a phone call Varadkar was operating a back channel to key decision makers. At the time he was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and had power to grant or refuse funds to the council. This was no ordinary ‘how’s it going;’ call.
Behind the image of a trendy moderniser lies a politician who knows the wily ways for influencing planning decisions.
Back in the 1980s, the developer Tom Gilmartin stumbled across a similar culture of corruption when he tried to get planning permission for the Liffey Valley shopping centre. He quickly learnt all about political influence when he was asked for a bribe.
In Varadkar’s case, there was no need for money. He only had to be told that a big American investor wanted obstacles removed and, as an Irish government Minister, he jumped like an obedient school boy.
After his gaffe, Varadkar’s supporters said that no phone had been made. They claim that someone in his office was just inquiring what stage the planning process was at.
But Trump had employed a team of planning consultants and had no need of Varadkar’s information. He just wanted his influence – and being the big American, he did not even have to pay for it.
Varadkar’s disgraceful admission – told as a joke- revealed how the powerful get their way in Ireland.
We need political organisation to break up their networks. People Before Profit is up for it.
