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play it again Leo

'A little bit of love and affection from the Department of Social Protection'

The Minister didn’t take himself too seriously through his two hour RTÉ slot.

MINISTER LEO VARADKAR took over the airwaves last night, delighting some and mortifying others with his music choices

The Social Protection Minister presented the Late Date slot on RTÉ Radio One between 11pm and 1am last night.

He kicked off his two hours with the Kongos ‘Come With Me Now’ followed on by Sweet Disposition by Temper Trap.

The politician is no stranger to the airwaves. Whether it is challenging opposition TDs in debates or hosting some local radio slots as he did last year, Varadkar sounded comfortable during his two-hour session.

His playlist included:

All My Friends- LCD Soundsystem

Quicksand- Hermitage Green

Sweet Disposition – Temper Trap

Come With Me Now -Kongos

This Christmas – Picture This

Nothing Compares To You – Sinéád O’Connor

Duck - Si Schroeder

Both Sides Now- Joni Mitchell

Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall – Edie Brickell

Sour Sour – The Glowing

Speeding Cars – Walking on Cars

And many were impressed by his musical choices. Others were perplexed to hear the senior politician hosting a light music show.

Varadkar wasn’t taking himself too seriously and managed to slip in a couple of self-deprecating jokes. After playing one song,  he said: “That was a little bit of love and affection from the department of social protection” – a joke made by Gift Grub’s Mario Rosenstock in a sketch about Varadkar.

Tweet by @🎄 S H A U N A 🎄 🎄 S H A U N A 🎄 / Twitter 🎄 S H A U N A 🎄 / Twitter / Twitter

Varadkar had come under fire from Fianna Fáil when it emerged he was to present the show. In particular, it was TD Willie O’Dea who was most vocal about Varadkar’s radio plans.

In one of the stranger exchanges between Irish politicians, Varadkar retorted with this gem:

odea Twitter Twitter

There are currently no plans for Varadkar to make a return to the airwaves.

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