Gracious in defeat – Coveney immediately congratulates Leo Varadkar and claims his former opponent has “the potential to be a hugely successful leader” – TheLiberal.ie – Our News, Your Views

Gracious in defeat – Coveney immediately congratulates Leo Varadkar and claims his former opponent has “the potential to be a hugely successful leader”




The Fine Gael party may have elected a new leader in Leo Varadkar last night, but his main opponent Simon Coveney has given a gracious response after his defeat.

Mr Coveney who received 40% of the 21,000 party members votes showed that he was gracious in defeat by being the first to congratulate his opponent before the onlooking crowd and the media.

Speaking about his narrow defeat Mr Coveney joked that “my children will be pleased” that he lost.

The Minister for Housing also said: “My message is very clear – it’s one of unity”, adding that Fine Gael “needs to be stronger, not in any way divided. This is a great party”

The Cork man who became resurgent in recent says added that Mr Varadkar had “the potential to be a hugely successful leader of this party” and claimed he would do everything he could to make that happen

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