Nearly a year after resigning as Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar has lost his armed Garda protection, reports The Mirror.
The official Garda car that was used to transport Mr. Varadkar, who resigned from Taoiseach in April of last year, has also been withdrawn, according to the Sunday Mirror.
It is believed that in recent weeks, around nine months after the former Fine Gael leader quit as Taoiseach, Garda chiefs decided to remove his armed protection, reports The Mirror.
According to sources, the decision was made following a security review that was conducted after Mr. Varadkar resigned as a TD after the general election in November.
They emphasised that it was taken for security reasons and that Mr. Varadkar, a hate figure for certain far-right groups, has been informed that the security detail may be reintroduced if the gardai determine that he is in danger, reports The Mirror.
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Only a few weeks after The Sunday Mirror disclosed that he retained the armed bodyguard even after quitting, the decision was made to dismiss his Garda protection officer, who was a member of a special detail stationed at the force headquarters in Phoenix Park, Dublin.
We disclosed in late November that the only past Taoiseach with this kind of protection was Mr. Varadkar, reports The Mirror.
When Mr. Varadkar, 45, resigned as Taoiseach, his Garda security would have been terminated, but top officers decided to keep him in his force BMW saloon and his armed protection officer.
According to sources, managers made the choice because they thought far-right activists posed a serious threat, reports The Mirror.
At the height of the nation’s financial crisis in 2011, the tradition of all previous Taoisigh keeping their armed driver and Garda car after leaving the job was ended.
When asked by The Sunday Mirror, Mr. Varadkar declined to comment; nevertheless, sources close to the former Dublin West TD have verified that the protection has been lifted.
But they added: “He has been told it can and will be restored if needs be. But he hopes that it won’t,” reports The Mirror.
Gardai declined to comment.
A spokesman told us: “An Garda Siochana does not comment on the security of any individual or group,” reports The Mirror.
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