A debate on the right to privacy has been triggered in Ireland over a video of deputy Prime Minister (Tánaiste) Leo Varadkar socialising in a gay nightclub in Dublin last week.
The video, shared on multiple platforms, has garnered millions of views coupled with a widespread online debate. According to a report by the Guardian on Tuesday, mainstream media ignored the video. TikTok, which had earlier hosted the video of Varadkar, took it down.
This week, deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told reporters that he did not wish to comment on the video. “Everyone makes errors in judgment. You wouldn’t be a human being if you didn’t” Varadkar, who had come out as gay back in 2015, said, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.
Micheál Martin, the Taoiseach and leader of the Fianna Fáil, condemned the filming of Varadkar in the nightclub branding it a breach of privacy. Varadkar and Martin are set to swap the Taoiseach and Tánaiste’s office.
Speaking to the Newstalk, Martin said, ‘Leo Varadkar’s life, my life, everyone’s private life is their private life and I do not in any way shape or form condone any breach of that privacy. I think it is wrong, in my view, to be breaching that privacy in terms of filming people in a social context.”
Last month, Sean Sheehy, a Catholic priest in Ireland stoked controversy by saying that Leo Varadkar and other gay politicians would go to hell. Sheehy’s remarks drew widespread criticism.
