RTE have started broadcasting a series called All walks of Life featuring former President of Ireland Mary McAleese walking ancient Christian pilgrimage ways with various TV, sports and political personalities.
In a soon to be broadcast episode of All walks of Life, Mary goes on walk about with Tanaiste and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar.
According to DublinLive, Mr Varadkar says “the white, Catholic Ireland of the 1980s made it difficult for the child of a multi-cultural family to fit in with his peers. “I did grow up in what was a very white, mono-cultural Ireland. I was the guy with the dark skin and the funny name”.
In the RTE broadcast, Mr Varadkar makes an important statement about our Irish Culture when he says “even though I don’t think I was ever subjected to any kind of racial violence or anything like that”. He goes on to say “It’s often just the little things like people asking you where you’re from. You’ll get asked, you know, do you ever go back to India”.
Mr Varadkar was born in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin to mixed race parents, his Dad from India and his mother from Dungarvan in West Waterford.
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