Sinn Fein councillor Paddy Holohan apologises for Leo Varadkar ‘family man’ comments

Former mixed martial arts fighter Paddy Holohan, who topped the poll in the Tallaght South area for Sinn Fein in local elections last May, appeared to make a reference to Mr Varadkar’s sexuality.

Mr Holohan said he would prefer a “family man” to be taoiseach during a recent episode of his podcast ‘No Shame’.

“We need people running the country,” he said. “And, not against Leo, but to me, I want a family man running the country.

“Someone that knows what it’s like to have kids, maybe, hopefully, boys and girls, so when you’re creating policies and stuff that’s going to go on, you’re like: ‘Right, that makes sense’.”

The Sinn Fein councillor also referenced Mr Varadkar’s Indian heritage, and suggested this meant the taoiseach was “separated” from Irish history.

Sinn Fein urged Mr Holohan to apologise and withdraw the remarks.

A party spokesperson said: “Paddy Holohan has made comments on his podcast that have caused offence, and are quite obviously not the views of Sinn Fein.”

Mr Holohan posted a statement on social media website Twitter on Thursday afternoon to apologise.

“Firstly, I would like to apologise as my comments may have offended people as I of course did not intend to do so,” he said.

“My comments have been misinterpreted and not in anyway meant the way they have been portrayed.”

Mr Holohan added: “Thank you to the people that know me and have supported me. And understand that I would never make such remarks.”