Micheál Martin says he would step in to stop a street brawl and would have a “good shot” at beating Leo Varadkar in an arm wrestle.
The Fianna Fáil leader is the latest political figure to take part in Sean Moncrieff’s “Quick-Fire Quiz” on Newstalk.
Over three minutes, the Cork South-Central TD revealed that he loves a bit of pineapple on his pizza, sleeps on the left-hand side of the bed and is allergic to curry.
He said his favourite swear word is Feck, the first record he ever bought was Jimmy Osmond’s ‘Long Haired Lover in Liverpool’ and he reckons it would take 1,000 chickens to tackle an elephant.
After the egg-timer, he answered questions from the children at O’Connells National School in Dublin City Centre.
What do you promise my mam and da if you win?
“We will put more money into the health service, build more housing for people and try and bring down their income tax somewhat. And help the planet.
Why can’t they give a house to the homeless?
“Because I think we are not building enough houses,” he said.
“We should be building more houses to make sure that the homeless get proper homes and that is something I would want to do very urgently.
Asked by Sean whether the current homelessness service system is fit for purpose he said: “I think Housing First is the best policy which Simon and Peter McVerry Trust have championed.”
“I believe in that. I believe we need to build more housing and when people are housed [we need to ensure] that there are a lot of support services there for them in terms of helping them to pull their lives together again.”
What would you do if you saw violence on the streets?
“I would try and stop it,” he said.
“Whether that is wise or not is a different thing, but my instincts always are to try and prevent somebody from hitting somebody else.
“My mother always said I was the peacemaker in the house when the rows broke out – that can get you in some difficulty as well. And then I would try and get some help.”
You can listen back to Moncrieff’s Quick Fire Quiz with Micheál Martin Here:
