Leo Varadkar

Speaking at a Conversations on Constitutional Change conference in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, organised by Mid-Ulster District Council, Varadkar said people in the Republic will one day need to apologise to northern nationalists. He said the Republic had forgotten about them for a very long time after partition. He called for a reconciliation process that includes acknowledging that wrong.

Varadkar said on The Pat Kenny Show that a successful united Ireland would be judged on how the British minority in Northern Ireland is treated. He tied this to the Garvaghy Road protests that followed the Parades Commission's decision to allow an Orange Order march. He argued these issues must be resolved before any talks on Irish unification.

Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar apologised after saying he had gone too far in remarks on the Path to Power podcast. In that interview he claimed rural Ireland received many subsidies and tax benefits that urban taxpayers did not, and that farming interests were largely not in the national interest. He said he had not intended to be divisive or to offend anyone.