Leo Varadkar nightclub footage triggers privacy debate in Ireland | Leaked clip of deputy leader also fuels moves to tighten social media regulation

34 comments

  1. The net is tightening. Look at Iran, Turkey or China, the UK, or any of the dozens of other authoritarian countries to see what our online future will look like.

  2. Man is recorded doing thing in public place and everyone loses their mind.

    You’d swear he was recorded through the keyhole of his bedroom ffs.

  3. This is what it takes.

    Not the leaks of girls that have been going on for the past few years. Not the leaks of cyclists getting hit by cars. Not the sharing of people getting slagged and hit in fights. Not the degrading of homeless people on social media by absolute wankers.

    No no, what changes it is the privileged to be inconvenienced by their public actions in a public space.

  5. This whole nightclub thing seems a little too convenient. Like, it happened exactly when the whole SIPO mess with Leo has come out. I’m not a conspiracy theorist at all, but it wouldn’t shock me if it turned out this was “leaked” on purpose so FFG could make that the story to distract from the scandal.

  6. A public figure in a publicly accessible nightclub demonstrating a lack of circumspection that could easily have see him blackmailed, and it’s a privacy debate that’s triggered! Aghhhhh. How do we know he hasn’t been compromised via this type of behaviour in the past?

    I’d prefer to see a re-examination of the SIPO case.

    Going by Leo’s behaviour in the nightclub, it kinda looks like his doctor friend could have had a (sexual) advantage in the tendering process others couldn’t have matched.

    What evidence did Leo provide for the preferential treatment he bestowed on his friend?

  7. What prick recorded and posted this. The fact that such people exist means we do have to bring in laws for this kind of stuff.

  11. Sorry, but when you are a public figure doing something in public i don’t think you can have any expectation of privacy.

  12. They’re creating a diversion to the issue of what this video really signifies, a guy out on the piss acting like a teenager, cheating, dishonesty, lack of morals, absolutely NO consideration for his partner and his life with this all over the media.

    …and he’s going to be on charge of the country in a few days, a job VERY few people in Ireland want him to do!

  13. Yet newspapers have been allowed stalk outside peoples homes with impunity for the last 50+ years?

    What’s the difference between splashing someones picture all over the Sunday newspapers without their permission and videoing them for a social media post?

  14. It’s a distraction from an actual [issue](https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/micheal-martin-new-era-of-strict-social-media-rules-is-now-imminent-following-video-of-leo-varadkar-42214996.html), Varadkars leak is back in the news.

    >Mr Martin said he did not agree with a suggestion taken from evidence given to the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) by the Tánaiste that the Taoiseach of the day has the power to declassify documents at will.

    >“I think there are limitations to power and I often say that to people that we have checks and balances in our system,” he said.

    >In a submission to the Sipo inquiry, Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy said Mr Varadkar suggested in his evidence that “any action in his roles as Taoiseach judged by him to be appropriate/in the public interest cannot be questioned”.

    >He said the Fine Gael leader suggested “the Taoiseach has the power at will, and without recourse to any process, to declassify a document at his discretion”.

  15. One of the biggest problems facing Irish society in the medium-long term is declining birth and marriage rates.

    Leo’s out here setting an example to the younger generations showing them that fun doesn’t have to end when you get married. This is actually the first time I have heard people discuss ethical non monogamy in Ireland. It could be a real turning point in our culture, moving beyond our heteronormative relationship model as the default and basically only acceptable model.

    It’s also showing why real diversity can be such a powerful thing. Showing us all a different perspective.

    I say good man Leo. You live your life

  16. Maybe we should do less regulation tightening and try to agree on a culture where we don’t leap to condemn in other people (Even Leo) all the stuff we absolutely have done ourselves. God the need for self-righteousness, for being correct, for triumphing over other people morally is overwhelming.

  23. Varadker was not at private function or in somebodys home. He was in a public space, mixing with many unconnected people. He is not a just a citizen, he is the incoming head of Government.

    He was not just having a good time. He clearly ‘cheated’ on his partner with somebody that looks much younger than him. It is not crazy to expect someone in his postion to have higher standards than this.

    People are breaking their backs to make it seem anything but Varadkers fault- and are gaslighting the country by focusing on ‘privacy concerns’. You can have a debate if it matters or not the the incoming Taoiseach is doing morally dubious things outside of his job – but this clearly isnt a privacy concern.

    If this was even Simon Coveney in Coopers with a younger girl, you wouldnt see this defence.

    Its just so bizarre to me that people are trying to blame ‘covert-video’ taker, instead of looking at Varadker.

  25. Theres no expectation of privacy in a public place. If someone was filming him through the windows of his house then it would be a privacy issue but the real issue is that he was so brazen about it. As one of the most recognisable men in Ireland you shouldn’t be doing things in public that you want the public to know about.

    If Mary Lou had been spotted kissing not her husband in a night club, I doubt Micheál would be concerned about her privacy

  27. Gotta laugh when people bring up privacy and consent when he was in a nightclub open to the public 😂

  28. The thing that really bothers me about this is this idea that you shouldn’t film inside a gay club. Like it’s somehow an invasion of privacy. I’m sorry but when you enter those spaces you cannot force people to cater to you completely and utterly.

  31. Leo and FG disgust me. You do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a nightclub and anyone with a shred of sense knows that. Surely a smoke screen for something else.

    “Hmmm how do I hide the new bill to allow FG ministers evict their tenants in sub zero temperatures? I know, I’ll go shift some lad in a public place and then play the victim!”

  32. If he’s allowed publicly say that working class people shouldn’t have smart phones and that we should get house deposits from our parents then I’ll happily sit and judge the man on how he conducts himself in public. He’s no problem judging poor people for being poor, I’ll judge him for being a cheating prick

  33. Is this even practical? Do people have an expectation of privacy in a nightclub? Does the leader of a country really have an expectation of privacy? Its pretty hard no from me.

  34. Is anyone else disappointed our future and past prime minister is behaving this way?

    As a gay guy I am disappointed in him because he had the opportunity to demonstrate everything good about the way gay people choose to live their lives, but he has instead seemingly entered into an ‘open relationship’ which is no fucking good for anyone. He could have helped normalise healthy gay relationships but instead uses his position of power to promote promiscuity by demonstrating it and I find that hard to stomach as a young gay man who values commitment and not engaging in hedonism

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