Lord Kilclooney denies being racist over Varadkar tweet

Former Ulster Unionist deputy leader Lord Kilclooney has denied being racist after calling Taoiseach Leo Varadkar a “typical Indian” in a tweet.

The 80-year-old peer, who is no longer a member of the UUP, was met with condemnation after making the remark on Twitter on Monday.

Mr Varadkar confessed that he had spotted the tweet, but thought it had been posted from a parody account.

“Seemingly it’s not. It actually is for real, but that’s all I’ll say about that,” the Taoiseach added.

Lord Kilclooney was responding to news coverage of Mr Varadkar’s visit to Northern Ireland and criticism from the DUP who had accused him of “poor manners” as they were not notified – although the NI Office was, in the absence of a sitting government at Stormont.

Despite the controversy around the tweet, Lord Kilclooney continued to defend his position and insisted: “I am certainly no racist and in particular have an admiration for Indians.”

He claimed in numerous Twitter responses to other users that Mr Varadkar “does not have the same understanding of North/South relations as an Irishman”.

The Taoiseach was born in Dublin.

His mother is Irish and his father is Indian.