The Ciara Phelan Podcast: Varadkar pulled back from sharing relationship online to protect privacy
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (left) and his partner Matt Barrett walk in the St Patrick's Day parade on 5th Avenue in New York City in 2018. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he has pulled back from sharing information about his partner online to protect their privacy and believes his relationship with Matt Barrett is scrutinised because they are a gay couple.
In a rare personal interview, Mr Varadkar discusses his thoughts on marriage and starting a family, the loss of people in his life who have died by suicide, and his childhood.
Speaking to The Ciara Phelan Podcast, he says it was around the age of seven that he started to discover he was gay but in his teen years, he thought it was a phase that would pass. He also recalls his mother’s initial reaction when he told her he is gay.
“Roughly half of the people were waiting for me to tell them and the other half really surprised. My dad wasn’t surprised at all. My mum was, and mums being mums, was very worried for me.
“She was more worried about how it’d impact my political career and I was quite frankly, because she felt I had worked so hard to get so far and potentially this would be used against me and all the rest of it.
“Mums tend to be protective, particularly of their sons and she would have thought it was something I should have kept to myself initially anyway, not 48 hours later but that was kind of the initial reaction.”
The Taoiseach said he has pulled back from sharing his relationship with his partner Matt Barrett online out of a desire to protect his privacy. On scrutiny of his relationship, he said he believes this is because it’s different.
The couple have been together for almost eight years and have been living together for three years. He said their relationship got better during the pandemic as he was in a position to be at home a lot more but now they “don’t get enough time together” due to the nature of his job.
He said he has struggled to live a normal social life as Taoiseach as you become “the fish in the fishbowl” and it’s nice to escape abroad which he said is the case for any recognisible public figures.
He said he would not rule out getting married someday but it’s not something the couple have plans to do at the moment. This may change if they decide to have a family but right now, he said, he doesn’t see how they could raise a family and do it to the best of their ability due to their busy lives and work commitments.
Mr Varadkar also noted the rise in homophobia in recent times and increased violence towards gay people. In the podcast which is out today, he also discusses misconceptions about him and the possibility of going back to study at college in the future.
