FORMER TAOISEACH LEO Varadkar has said he told RTÉ to not be afraid to win Eurovision and that the government would allocate funding towards Ireland hosting it.

Varadkar and his partner Dr Matt Barrett were interviewed in a new episode of Éirevision, an Irish podcast about the song competition.

The former Taoiseach shared his personal reflections on memories of watching Eurovision – including how Covid-19 restrictions prevented him from travelling to watch the competition, which he joked should be enough evidence to discredit any conspiracy theories about him being “into lockdowns”.

Speaking about Ireland’s prospects of winning and hosting the competition, he said the matter had come up before in conversations between him and RTÉ.

“One thing I always said to them was, don’t be afraid to win,” Varadkar said.

“If Ireland actually won this, you know, just as would be the case with other big events, we wouldn’t expect them to cut the news budget or the children’s programs budget – there would be a special allocation from the state to assist them to stage it,” he said.

“It’s such a huge event now compared to what it would have been the last time we hosted it and we’d have to show off the country well.

“It was never given in writing, which means that it doesn’t necessarily transfer to future administrations, but I really think if we did win, people would expect Ireland to give a good show.”

He recalled how Riverdance was showcased when Ireland hosted Eurovision previously and the massive amount of recognition that gained for the dance style.

Ireland has won Eurovision seven times and previously hosted the following year’s competition in various locations in Dublin and Cork: the Gaeity Theatre, the RDS, the Green Glens Arena and the Point Depot.

However, the last time the competition was held here was in 1997.

Listen now: https://t.co/Z2eS1naDee

— Éirevision Podcast 🇮🇪 (@EirevisionPod) September 27, 2024

Varadkar also said that he would prefer to see the Eurosong competition to select Ireland’s entry held somewhere other than the RTÉ studio, mentioning The Helix as a potential option.

“I think the Late Late Show studio isn’t the place to do it. I don’t think it does justice to a really good song and then that’s the images that go out for the first couple of weeks.

“It’d be nice if it was staged somewhere different, maybe the Helix or a different venue, where you could actually do a much more impressive stage show.”