‘Who would want the job?’: Cork people's reaction to Leo Varadkar's decision to step down
Butcher Helen O’Callaghan: There is no job that pays enough money for anybody to take the abuse he was getting. Pictures: Chani Anderson
English Market butcher Helen O’Callaghan reckons she wouldn’t last long as a TD — let alone a Taoiseach — and feels sorry for Leo Varadkar.
“Who would want that job?” she asks as she nonchalantly chops meat with a large cleaver.
“It can’t be easy to do that job, and I’d say it’s a tough job mentally.
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"Sure, God help him. He got a lot of abuse online and there is no job that pays enough money for anybody to take the abuse he was getting.
“So, I feel sorry for him. People forget that people like him don’t just have family but they also have feelings.”
Though solemn as she says this, she suddenly bursts into a smile as she adds: “Interesting he made sure to get that last jaunt into the White House before he made his announcement, no?”
Asked who she thinks will be Taoiseach now, she replies: “Well, I wouldn’t like to see Micheál Martin come back.
"I don’t like him. He doesn’t deserve it.
“Although my mother Joan would turn in her grave to hear me saying this because, like me, she voted Fianna Fáil.
"I’d quite like to see Simon Harris in the job.
“But even if Simon Coveney gets it, and we have Micheál still in his role, Cork will still not get that events centre. It’s just never going to happen.”
UCC students Emily Finch-Bowler, from Dunmanway, and Alice Lehane, from Clonakilty, don’t share Helen’s empathy for the soon-to-be former Taoiseach.
“Considering the housing crisis and the state of the health service, I’d say the fact that he is going is for the best,” Emily said.
On his announcement, Alice said: “I think the whole country needs a new perspective and one that appeals more to the generations now who will be living in this country long after all of the politicians have walked away.”
Student Becca Sheehan, 20, said: “I don’t really care. People my age are not really invited to be part of the political narrative in this country, or that is at least the way it appears.
“We don’t see any of the politicians making any real genuine effort to find out what we think or what we expect from them.
“I feel they are all about now, not about the future and it is left up to the rest of us to clean up after them when they go.”
Operations manager David Brophy, from Mourneabbey, near Mallow, said: “He’ll be a big loss.
“He was respected on the international stage and he always carried himself well and he was credible.
“While [Simon] Harris will probably get the job, I’d prefer Simon Coveney, as he is easier on the ear.
“But whoever it turns out to be, they will have to be a leader who is going to tackle the housing crisis. That problem has to get sorted.”
Betty O’Keeffe, a Fianna Fáil voter from Cork, said: “I didn’t see this coming.
"But I also don’t think he just woke up the other morning and decided he no longer wanted to do the job.
“This must have been some time coming. He must have a good reason to suddenly not want the job.”
She added: “When Micheál Martin was Taoiseach, you would always see Leo in the news but when he got the job, you hardly heard anything from him.”
One thing she fears most from his decision is the prospect of a general election.
“I hope that doesn’t happen for some time,” she said. “We can’t afford it.”
Like others we spoke to, she was also quite philosophical about his decision.
“He’s right to put his personal life first,” she said.
“After all, you only have one life.”
Last comment goes to a couple chatting in the Bridge St branch of Cork Coffee Roasters, as they emptied sugar sachets into their takeaway coffees.
“Maybe it was the referendum, and a sign that he is out of touch with what people are interested in,” said the man.
Nodding, the woman with him replied: “Maybe, but to be honest, I thought he was tougher than that.”
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