Old photo sparks trip down memory lane for Leo Varadkar

As Leo Varadkar is no doubt texting right now ‘totes awks — #embarrassing’.

While they are now rivals in the imminent race to replace Taoiseach Enda Kenny as Fine Gael leader, it was an entirely different story for Mr Varadkar and Simon Coveney two decades ago.

As he contested the Cork South Central by-election in 1998, a then 27-year-old Coveney was given a hand by a fresh-faced 20-year-old medical student from Dublin.