Varadkar: Appropriate for Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy to make apology to family of murdered Paul Quinn

The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that it is appropriate that Sinn Féin Northern Minister for Finance Conor Murphy make an apology to the Quinn family for suggesting that their son Paul, believed to have been murdered by the Provisional IRA, had been involved in criminality.

Mr Varadkar, appearing at St Joseph’s College in Lucan to promote his party’s policies on gender equality and social progress, said that apology is a matter for Sinn Féin, and that he didn’t “want to make it an election issue”. “It is more of a human issue,” he said.

Paul’s mother

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“She wants justice, she wants closure, and we shouldn’t make this a political issue,” Mr Varadkar said of Ms Quinn.

He reiterated that his party would not countenance coalition with Sinn Féin and insisted that his party is fully behind him on that point, in contrast with the position of Fianna Fáil’s backbenchers.

He denied that he had any impression that anything untoward had been going on under John Delaney at the FAI during his own tenure as Minister for Sport. Mr Varadkar had, at Tuesday night’s leaders’ debate, said that putting Fianna Fáil back in power “would be like putting John Delaney back in charge of the FAI after nine years”.

He said he had no regrets about putting Brexit front and centre of Fine Gael’s election campaign despite the subject apparently failing to get traction with the electorate.

“This election is about the future. No one has voted yet, let’s see how it goes on Sunday,” he said.

He said there are no circumstances in which he would consider resigning as leader, regardless of Sunday’s result, despite reports suggesting that outgoing TD Michael Noonan would welcome Paschal Donohoe taking over as head of Fine Gael.

St Joseph’s has been without refurbishment for 21 years, and without a long-planned-for extension for 15.

Mr Varadkar told students this morning that he could only guarantee that he would “do his best” to ensure that extension is now provided. “You tend to remember better the schools you’ve actually visited,” he said. “Perhaps that is not how it should be but it is the case.”

St Joseph’s is located in the Dublin Mid West constituency, which is currently without a female TD.

Flanked by candidates Emer Higgins and Vicki Casserly, Mr Varadkar said he hoped that situation will change at Saturday’s election.

Data courtesy of The Irish Times

He told students that he believes it’s “important” that Ireland elects a female Taoiseach for the first time in the future. “Just not in this one,” he added, with reference to Ms McDonald.

In terms of political regrets, the Taoiseach said that it would be a “big regret” of his should he not survive in power long enough to see a solution to the housing crisis.

Asked by one student if he had noted the rise of the far right in Irish politics, he said that he had but that it was mostly evidenced online.

“I hope that none of them get elected,” he said with regard to the candidates from that political viewpoint who are running in the election.