Northern Ireland

Micheál Martin describes Leo Varadkar as taoiseach twice

Taoiseach Micheál Martin
Taoiseach Micheál Martin Taoiseach Micheál Martin

Tongue tied Taoiseach Micheál Martin has been left red faced twice in as many days after referring to his predecessor Leo Varadkar by his old title.

It felt just like old times for Mr Varadkar this weekend when his Fianna Fáil counterpart publicly described his deputy as Taoiseach on two different occasions.

Mr Martin replaced Mr Varadkar in the Irish government hotseat in June this year with the Fine Gael leader then taking on the role of Tánaiste.

However, old habits appear to die hard for Mr Martin whose double gaffe has no doubt put a smile on the face of his political rival.

The first slip during a weekend press conference came as Mr Martin spoke about claims that Mr Varadkar leaked details of an agreement reached between the government and Irish Medical Organisation (IMO).

And as if hat wasn't bad enough Mr Martin handed Mr Varadkar a double boost yesterday when he repeated the mistake while speaking in the Dail,

Mr Martin said that Mr Varadkar, who he described as “the Taoiseach”, was due to answer questions later in the day.

On realising his mistake he then corrected himself.

The double error by Mr Martin has generated a big response on some sections of social media with one wit remarking “even he doesn’t know who’s running the country”.