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Dublin Live
Dublin Live
National
Fergal Blaney

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar and partner sign up to host Ukrainian family after moving media images of war

Leo Varadkar has said he and his partner Matt Barrett have offered to take in a family of Ukrainian war refugees after watching the harrowing images of the war through the media.

The Tánaiste said it was "hard to watch" without doing something.

He added that it is also because he now has room after upsizing and moving out of their apartment and buying a house together.

Read more: Gardai and family concerned for wellbeing of missing Kildare man

Mr Varadkar explained why he was moved to make the offer.

He said: “From our point of view, watching the news every night from Ukraine, it’s very hard to watch what we’re witnessing on our continent, in our neighbourhood and we just wanted to help out in some way.

“Giving a home to someone for a few months fleeing a war is just something we’re able to do at the moment.”

Mr Varadkar added: “It's just something my partner Matt and I talked about a few weeks ago.

“It’s not something we could have done in the past because we lived in an apartment and the spare room was effectively the only storage space we had.

“I have a house now so it’s a possibility and I on our behalf signed us up with the Irish Refugee Council around three weeks ago.”

Read more: Tanaiste Leo Varadkar slams Russian Embassy attack as 'not helpful at all'

Read more: Tanaiste Leo Varadkar brands Vladimir Putin as 'the Hitler of the 21st century'

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