Sole-searching Varadkar searches for aide’s missing shoes

Leo Varadkar is no loafer when putting the boot into political opponents but he was in a more sole-searching frame of mind this afternoon when he took to a popular social media platform in search of an aide's shoes which went, er, brogue on the morning commute to work.

“My assistant lost their shoes cycling in from Navan Road, the Minister for Transport tweeted forlornly.

“If anyone finds a pair of black men’s shoes - please advise,” he continued.

While he was desperately seeking shoes in order for his colleague to be properly attired for his working day, the Minister did not provide any great detail about the style of footwear lost by his down-at-heel Cinderfella.

Nor did he explain how the shoes came to be lost although it seems unlikely his Ministerial aide was wearing them at the time of their disappearance.

The Irish Times contacted the Department of Transport seeking more information about the loss, but a spokesman said there was “nothing more to add other than what was in the Minister’s tweet.”

He said Mr Varadkar had long had a Twitter account which he used for discussing both important matters of State and more light-hearted issues “and it was on that basis” that he tweeted about the missing shoes.

The spokesman later said the shoes in question were a pair of black Clarks (size 8).

Despite posting the message to more than 7,000 followers just after lunch, Mr Varadkar had uncovered no leads by this afternoon.

When it was suggested that a reward might help people to step up their search his spokesman said the only reward on the table was likely to be “the heartfelt thanks” of the Minister and his shoeless assistant.

He later said Mr Varadkar was offering a DVD or Blu-ray of ‘Footloose’ to whoever found and returned the pair.