Kildare South TD Martin Heydon Has Criticised Leo Varadkar Following His Comments About Rural Ireland

Tuesday, 21 April 2026 14:16

By Daniel Maher

Leo Varadkar had made the comments on the Path to Power podcast with Matt Cooper

Agriculture Minister and Kildare South TD Martin Heydon has hit out at his former boss, Leo Varadkar, for being “unnecessarily divisive” in his commentary on rural Ireland.

It comes after the former Taoiseach claimed urban dwellers need to be “more blunt” in telling country people “we’re the ones paying all the bills”.

Mr Varadkar made the comments on the Path to Power podcast while reflecting on the blockades:

“People in rural Ireland are very quick to tell people in urban Ireland that ‘we’re the real workers, we’re the ones paying all the bills, we’re the ones feeding the country’,” the former TD for Dublin West said.

“I think we maybe need to be a little bit more blunt in urban Ireland and say, ‘actually, that’s not the case – we’re the ones paying all the bills and you’re the ones in receipt of a lot of subsidies and a lot of tax benefits that other people don’t get’.”

According to the Irish Independent, Minister Heydon described the comments as “wrong”.

He said the agri-food sector employs over 165,000 people in Ireland, representing 6.5% of total employment in the country, but an even greater proportion in rural and coastal areas.

“Beyond direct employment, the sector plays a key role in the wider economy, with estimates for output multipliers ranging from around 2.5 for beef, 2.0 for dairy and food processing, and 1.75 for seafood,” he added.

“This compares with an average output multiplier of 1.4 for the rest of the economy and 1.2 for foreign-owned companies.”

Meanwhile, Tánaiste Simon Harris says people in urban and rural areas shouldn't be "categorised" or "stereotyped".

He also said that it was time to unite as a country.