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Irish PM wrote fan letter to Kylie Minogue on official letterhead
By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 3 April 2019
Hey! Do you remember the days when politics could be fun? When every day wasn’t a grinding descent into a pit of darkness and despair? No, me neither. Imagine if the worst thing to happen on any given day in the world of British politics was that Theresa May had used her position of power to try to meet a pop star. That’s the sort of political scandal they’re having in Ireland right now. The lucky bastards.
Following two attempts by the Irish government to block it, The Irish Mail has published a fan letter written by the country’s top politician – Taoiseach Leo Varadkar – to Kylie Minogue on official headed notepaper.
“Dear Kylie”, wrote Varadkar ahead of a planned show by the singer in Dublin last year. “Just wanted to drop you a short note in advance of the concert in Dublin. I am really looking forward to it. Am a huge fan! I understand you are staying in the Merrion Hotel which is just across the street from my office in Government Buildings. If you like, I’d love to welcome you to Ireland personally”.
The concert in question was later cancelled as Minogue had a throat infection, although she reportedly called Varadkar personally to apologise for the no show. They then met backstage at a rescheduled performance in December. That meeting also sparked scandal, after it was reported that the prime minister had been bought dinner, which he denied.
“I’ve been made aware of a post on social media saying I had a free meal at a concert the other night”, he wrote at the time. “This is not true. There was no meal, we only had drinks and I paid. I have the receipt to prove it too”.
We should note that it’s very important to eat dinner. You really shouldn’t have drinks on an empty stomach, even when meeting a pop star. I think Varadkar’s failure to do so is the real scandal in this whole story. While we know he didn’t get any free food, it’s not clear whether Varadkar saw the actual show for free. But at least he asked to go, rather than just sneaking in without a ticket like our deceitful former PM.
