Leo Varadkar was photographed catching up with pals topless in the Phoenix Park on Sunday, with his bare-chested cheek causing a stir on Twitter as curtain twitchers and armchair warriors bickered over whether he was social distancing enough, or whatever.
Opinions were divided; some body-shaming types even went so far as to hint that he was looking a bit “soft” , sardonically suggesting the young leader’s role in the fight against coronavirus had left him with little time to work out. All silly stuff really.
Now for the important issue that really matters in the grand scheme of things: The torso-exposed Taoiseach isn’t the first world leader to take his top off and parade about in public however - nor is he the first to be papped while doing so.
Here’s a handy list of other big-shot world leaders whose upper body skin has been exposed from neck to nipple to naval.
Vladimir Putin
Women love him. Men fear him. He's basically a slavic God. The Russian supremo is known for carefully nurturing his macho image, with his ego said to be as large as the old Soviet Union’s sprawling landmass.
Putin has been photographed swimming freestyle in the freezing Baltic Sea and even more impressively, emerging from a Black Sea scuba-diving session with ancient Greek amphorae he just happened to find at the bottom. How very lucky!
Also, he's been snapped while fishing and going hunting while wearing nothing above the waist but an automatic weapon slung over his broad, manly shoulders, or with just shades on while riding a horse, or indeed feeding a horse, of course.
Bertie Ahern
The Teflon Taoiseach was so called because it was claimed that shit never stuck to him - and when he was in the Canaries on his holidays, his shirt wouldn’t either… Well, it stuck to his head, but his chest was bare. Phwoar.
Donald Trump
Yes - we’re scraping the barrel at this stage. In November, the unhinged, orange buffoon sometimes referred to as Donald Trump retweeted a ridiculous photoshopped image of his own stupid orange face on the body of Sylvester Stallone. The result is a Rocky Horror show that once seen, can never be unseen. You’re welcome!
David Cameron
The UK prime minister responsible for Brexit has been photographed in nothing but his trunks on several occasions. Though now free of the shackles of EU bureaucracy, lucky Britons will forever struggle to LEAVE behind the memory of their former PM's smiling bellybutton and pale-pink nipples.
And because nobody wants to see that image, here's another of Putin, this time showing off his guns...
Iris Robinson
OK - she wasn’t photographed topless, but the staunchly Presbyterian MLA and MP and wife of the North's then First Minister was left with her pants down when her affair with a teenager she once used to babysit was exposed.
Justin Trudeau
A compatriot of Trudeau explained to Dublin Live last week that he's popular in her homeland "because he's handsome - d'uh". That may well be, but the dynamic Canadian leader is best known on this side of the Atlantic for his taste in socks - something he shares with good pal Leo V.
Whatever... photos of the sexy young buck showing off his chest before he entered public life have had admirers swooning like a maple leaf in the wind.
Kate Middleton
OK she’s not a world leader, but she’ll be the queen of England one day (or the King’s wife, or whatever silly royal title they give to people who marry kings and queens over there these days). Anyway, she was snapped sunbathing topless in France and glossy mag Closer published them, causing a royal rumble that threatened to knock the earth off its axis.
Nicolas Sarkozy
Former French president Sarkozy is married to stunning actress and model Carla Bruni, who reportedly got so fed up of being photographed next to her less well toned hubby that they had a beach closed so they could get almost naked in peace. Speaking of, Sarkozy has also been tapped sunning himself bollock naked on a beach, where the soles of his feet took on a life of their own online as foot fetish freaks decided they liked the look of them. It takes all sorts…
Margaret Thatcher
Just kidding. Made you look though!
