Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has responded to Instagram messages posted by his partner Matt Barrett relating to the coronation of Prince Charles and Camilla which referred to their crowning as “irreverent”. The messages appeared on a private account followed by around 350 individuals. One post displayed views of crowds outside Westminster Abbey with the message “Holy sh*t I think I’m accidentally crowned king of England.” Another pictured Prince Charles’s crown, likening it to the sorting hat from the Harry Potter series. It has been suggested that Barrett should apologise to the British monarchy for the messages, which were highlighted in the Irish Times.
In response, Varadkar described Barrett as “a private individual” in a relationship with the Taoiseach for over seven years. He stated that the messages were never intended to be made public, but acknowledged that they sometimes were. Varadkar added that he had discussed the matter with Barrett and did not expect it to be repeated.
The controversy follows recent reports of tensions between Ireland and the UK over Brexit negotiations. Ireland has been pressing for a backstop agreement to ensure that there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic if other Brexit plans fail.
Meanwhile, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner has launched an inquiry into Facebook’s largest ever security breach, announced last Friday. The campaign group, Digital Rights Ireland, has called for tougher sanctions against the social media giant, stating insufficient action had been taken following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
