Varadkar and Creighton in ‘good child’ spat

An angry “he says, she says” political war of words has erupted between Transport Minister Leo Varadkar and rebel TD Lucinda Creighton.

The outspoken former Europe Minister, who was ousted from the Fine Gael parliamentary group for defying the leadership over X case legislation, sparked the public spat when she accused Mr Varadkar of telling her to keep her head down and behave like a “good child” if she wanted to get back in the party fold.

The transport minister hit back, saying with “hand on my heart” that he had not given that advice to Ms Creighton, before going on to claim she had betrayed a confidential conversation, and that he was “disappointed” in her.

Ms Creighton, who has formed a right-wing group in the Dáil with fellow Fine Gael rebels called the Reform Alliance, said the party leadership had treated them like children.

“We have been told, unofficially through the grapevine, that if we keep our heads down, we support everything the Government does, if we behave like good children, that we will be back in the parliamentary party.

“I don’t know if that is true or not, but I am certainly not prepared to test that out.

“It’s been signalled by a number of ministers, there’s Leo, Brian [Hayes] and others, and quietly, emissaries from the party have been saying it around Leinster House as well, so that’s a clear line, if you like, from certain individuals in the parliamentary party. It is not something I’m interested in,” Ms Creighton told Newstalk Breakfast.

Mr Varadkar insisted the Dublin South East TD’s allegations were untrue.

“Hand on my heart I don’t think I have ever told anyone to keep their head down or behave like a child. If anything I tell people to assert themselves,” he told Newstalk.

“It wasn’t like that. The advice I gave her was as a friend to a friend. I thought it was in confidence and it was a discussion that we had the day she resigned.

“She is somebody that came up through the party with me and I wanted her to do well and I still do.

“And what I said to her from the point of view of party members and supporters is that they would admire her courage for standing by her convictions on abortion and they would understand it because the party had indicated that we wouldn’t legislate for abortion, but, on other issues it would be different, that members, supporters wouldn’t understand if she went against commitments in the manifesto, things that we got elected on — things that she got elected on, like abolishing the senate for example or budgetary matters, and, I suppose that was the advice that I gave her... and actually she agreed with the advice at the time.”