Could Ireland ever host Eurovision again? Leo Varadkar had discussed it with RTÉ officials
Lawless The Podcast Dr And Picture: Partner Barrett éirevision Joined Matthew His Brian Varadkar Mr
Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his partner have taken “the next logical step” in their relationship — by featuring on their first podcast interview together.
The former Taoiseach and his partner, Dr Matthew Barrett, joined Conor Devlin and Lou on the Éirevision podcast and the Eurovision Song Contest featured heavily in the conversation, including whether or not Ireland could play host ever again.
During Leo Varadkar's time in government, he had met with RTÉ about funding, and it was previously reported that the Eurovision had come up in conversation.
“I'm still a recovering politician so at risk of misrepresentation," said Mr Varadkar. "I wish to clarify at the outset that I would have met RTÉ once or twice a year. Top of the agenda would have been their own finances, some of the financial irregularities there, the issues around bogus self-employment.
"Eurovision was probably never on the agenda, or if it was, it wouldn't have been the first thing on the agenda, but it would have come up in conversation with executives and officials and RTÉ.
He attended the last competitions in Turin, Liverpool and Malmö — Liverpool being the one he “enjoyed most”. He and Dr Barrett missed out on the contest in Amsterdam in 2020 – much to his disappointment.
“For anyone out there who believes conspiracy theories about me being into lockdowns and that type of stuff, among the many things disrupted was my attempts to go to Eurovision,” he joked.
Who would he like to see represent Ireland at Eurovision in the future?
“I’d love Tolü Makay to do it. She's a beautiful singer. Although probably too far advanced in her career to do it. But I think you'd write a song for her and she would do it really well.”
When asked if they would attend Eurovision in Basel, Dr Barrett said the pair might “sit it out” because the “party atmosphere isn’t the same”.
“The other thing we found, in Malmo this year, the atmosphere was very iffy. I mean, it was so much more security, there's snipers on the roof, there's protestors. "
And I think we have a few friends who'd be diehard Eurovision fans who've been going for decades nearly, and they were very much of the opinion that it really wasn't Eurovision,” Dr Barrett said.