TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR insists that Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau's apology for wearing 'blackface' should be accepted.
Trudeau has been heavily lambasted over the past week after photographs emerged of him wearing dark make-up at an Arabian Nights-themed costume party in 2001 emerged.
The Canadian PM issued a public apology immediately after the revelation: "I shouldn’t have done that," he said. "I should have known better, but I didn’t, and I’m really sorry."
Then, more photos emerged of Trudeau wearing 'blackface' forcing the 47-year-old to concede that he couldn't be sure how many times he'd worn dark mark-up in the past.
The pictures were all from a time when Trudeau was working as a teacher, before he made it to politics. But the excuse of a 'a different time and place' isn't one that's being considered at the moment.
Ever since, he's been at the centre of a media storm and his carefully maintained squeaky clean image looks to be in tatters, but Taoiseach Varadkar says that Trudeau's apology should be accepted.
"Mr Trudeau has apologised," Varadkar said during a press conference ahead of UN meetings in New York.
"He's given a very direct apology about those actions in the past and I think people should accept that apology."
Varadkar and Trudeau are seen as close allies on the international stage.
In 2017, the two were pictured jogging together in Phoenix Park in Dublin, during Mr Trudeau's state visit to the country, shortly before Varadkar was elected Taoiseach.
Trudeau has been leader of the Canadian people since 2015.
He is the second-youngest Canadian PM in history and follows in the footsteps of his father Pierre Trudeau, who held the position between 1968 ad 1984.
