Search Results for 'Leo Varadkaar'

A challenging year politically draws to a close with a sense of déjà vu as Ireland faces another Christmas coronavirus scare and renewed concerns about the efforts to extricate itself from the crisis - even if we are in a better position to do so than 12 months ago.

As we approach the midpoint of 2021, and with the summer Dáil recess approaching, now is a good time to take stock of the political year to date.

Insider heard it said recently that anyone who was in the predictions business at the outset of 2020 would have found themselves out of work before too long.

These past few weeks have been a surreal experience for the people of this country. At times it almost feels like the stuff of fiction with, at one stage, Taoiseach Leo Varadkaar’s return to medical duties drawing comparisons with President Whitmore in that 1996 blockbuster Independence Day.

As the Dáil heads off on its summer holidays there is much to contemplate after a busy and interesting first half to 2018, with the promise of more tumult to come in the autumn.

It is two years almost to the day since the people of the UK dramatically voted to leave the EU. Since then Brexit has been a constant backdrop to political discourse in these islands, and a dominant one when it comes to the discussion of international affairs.