Cad atá á léamh ag Leo Varadkar? ‘Books for the Boys’ ag club leabhar na Dála…

Cúrsaí léitheoireachta seachas pilates an caitheamh aimsire a bhí faoi chaibidil sa Dáil ag an Taoiseach inné

Cad atá á léamh ag Leo Varadkar? ‘Books for the Boys’ ag club leabhar na Dála…

Bhí Teachtaí Dála lúbtha ag gáirí an tseachtain seo caite nuair a nocht Leo Varadkar don saol mór go mbíodh sé féin agus Gerry Adams ag gabháil don rang pilates céanna.

Cúrsaí léitheoireachta an caitheamh aimsire a bhí faoi chaibidil sa Dáil ag an Taoiseach nua inné.

Ceannaire Chomhaontas Glas Eamon Ryan a chuir tús leis an bplé faoi ábhar léitheoireachta don samhradh.

Le linn dó a bheith ag spaisteoireacht ar Fhaiche Stiabhna le déanaí, bhuail Ryan le Michael Noonan agus bhí paiste comhrá acu faoi chúrsaí an tsaoil. An gnáthchomhrá neamhbhuartha.

“We stopped to have a chat, as one does. We talked about social partnership, capital plans and, inevitably and briefly, books we would recommend to each other. I recommended to him The Myth Gap by Alex Evans, while he blessedly recommended to me a short book he had just read, On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder,” arsa Ryan.

Mhol ceannaire na nGlasach inné don Taoiseach go léifeadh sé féin On Tyranny, agus dhein sé cur síos ar phríomhthéis an tsaothair.

Dúirt Ryan gurb é áiteamh Snyder ná go bhfuil cúrsaí polaitíochta imithe ó ‘the politics of inevitability’ go dtí ‘the politics of eternity’.

Most politicians would agree,” arsa Micheál Martin agus, b’fhéidir, imir bheag den seanbhlas ar a chuid cainte agus é ag éisteacht le léirmheas Ryan.

Lean Ryan air in ainneoin go raibh na Filistínigh ag trasnaíl anois air. Tugann Snyder rabhadh dúinn in On Tyranny, a dúirt sé, faoi “the seduction of a mythical past that prevents us from thinking about possible futures”.

Cruthúnas críochnaithe ab ea Donald Trump ar ‘the politics of eternity’ toisc gur náisiúnaí é “who encourages us to be our worst and then tells us we are the best”.

“The Taoiseach has a chance to be what Mr. Snyder calls the creator in a moment of history,” arsa Ryan agus é ag moladh dó leabhar Snyder a léamh agus an cuireadh a thug Enda Kenny do Donald Trump teacht anseo a chur ar ceal. (Dúirt Varadkar i mí an Mhárta nach tabharfadh sé féin a leithéid de chuireadh do Trump, ach dúirt sé inné go mbeadh sé drochbhéasach é a chur ar ceal).

Ní foláir nó rith sé leis an Taoiseach gur furasta a bheith ag caint agus gur ar éigean go mbeadh aga ag aon duine a bheith ina ‘creator in a moment of history’ agus é clipthe ag daoine ag caint faoi easpa ban i measc a airí stáit agus cheapadh breithiúna.

Pé scéal é, is cosúil gur chaint amú a bhí in aitheasc Ryan.

Dealraíonn sé gur phrioc galar fónta seo na léitheoireachta lucht Fhine Gael fadó agus go bhfuil On Tyranny ard go maith ar liosta léitheoireachta riachtanach phiardaí móra an pháirtí.

“I am delighted that the Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, is making the same book recommendations to the Deputy as he is to me. He gave me the book On Tyranny for my 38th birthday. I have read it and it is a good read,” arsa an Taoiseach.

Dhein ceannaire pháirtí an Lucht Oibre, Brendan Howlin, iontas den bhféirín a roghnaigh Donohoe do Varadkar.

“Is the Minister trying to tell the Taoiseach something?” a d’fhiafraigh Howlin.

(B’fhéidir go raibh léirmheas Adam Gopnik an New Yorker ar On Tyranny léite ag ceannaire pháirtí an Lucht Oibre: ‘As Timothy Snyder explains in his fine and frightening On Tyranny, a minority party now has near-total power and is therefore understandably frightened of awakening the actual will of the people.’)

Bhí freagra pras ag an Taoiseach ar Howlin, áfach.

“I know that for many members of the Deputy’s party, the world stopped at some stage in the 1980s and that he has not read any political philosophy since…”

Bheadh eagla ort cad a tharlódh dá mbeadh braon fíona fén bhfiacail acu ag an gclub leabhar áirithe seo.

Bhí a mholtaí stuama féin ag an Taoiseach.

“I recommend that the Deputy read some books from the 1990s and this century which talk about other concepts. They are a good read. There are 20 lessons [On Tyranny] and the Deputy can read them just before bedtime.

“The Minister for Finance’s other recommendation is The Hillbilly Elegy, while the Minister for Education and Skills recommends The Political Brain, both of which are a good read”.

Údair fir amháin atá ar liosta léitheoireachta mhaithe agus mhóruaisle Fhine Gael, is cosúil.

Faoin tráth seo, bhí suim á cur ag Teachtaí Dála eile i gcomhrá a gcomhghleacaithe léannta.

“How does one join the book club?” arsa Patrick O’Donovan.

Perhaps after pilates, we can also have a book club,” arsa an Taoiseach.

D’fhéadfaí ‘Books for the Boys’ a thabhairt air.


LIOSTA LÉITHEOIREACHTA AN TAOISIGH


1. The Myth Gap: What Happens When Evidence and Arguments Aren’t Enough le Alex Evans

MOLTA AG: Eamon Ryan.

A nDÚIRT SIAD: ‘His book will strike many chords, bringing hope and comfort to believers. As for the sceptics, they will at most reply, “nice ideas, but…’ –The Scotsman

2. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century le Timothy Snyder

MOLTA AG: Eamon Ryan, Michael Noonan, Paschal Donohoe agus Leo Varadkar.

A nDÚIRT SIAD: ‘The perfect clear-eyed antidote to Trump’s deliberate philistinism. . . . These 128 pages are a brief primer in every important thing we might have learned from the history of the last century, and all that we appear to have forgotten’ – The Guardian.

3. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and a Culture in Crisis le J.D.Vance

MOLTA AG: Paschal Donohoe agus Leo Varadkar.

A nDÚIRT SIAD: ‘You will not read a more important book about America this year’ – The Economist.

4. The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation le Drew Westen

MOLTA AG: Richard Bruton agus Leo Varadkar

A nDÚIRT SIAD: ‘It’s rare that one comes across a book that raises so many questions. Of course it’s rare that one comes across a book that so avidly flatters the prejudices of its partisan readers’ – The New York Times

Fág freagra ar 'Cad atá á léamh ag Leo Varadkar? ‘Books for the Boys’ ag club leabhar na Dála…'

  • mathúin

    Moladh agam do Leo más faoi gaeilge a fhoghlaim; ‘Sna Fir’ le Micheál Ó Conghaile a léamh. Oiriúnach go maith dhó.