Irish MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan has revealed he has been diagnosed with autism.
In a post on X marking Autism Awareness Day, Mr Flanagan said “It really helps to know.”
I was diagnosed with Autism at the beginning of February. I always kinda knew. Now I actually do know. It really helps to know. #AutismAwarenessDay
— Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan (@lukeming) April 2, 2024
Responding as to whether politics was accessible for autistic people. the MEP said the “obsession with how people look and dress defintely doesn’t help.”
He also said it was his daughter’s diagnosis that “woke me up to what I am myself.”
Mr Flanagan has been an MEP for Midlands–North-West since 2014, and was elected to the Dáil in 2011.
In February, his former assistant Diarmuid Hayes, admitted hacking Mr Flanagan’s Twitter account in September 2020.
In the victim impact statement, Mr Flanagan said his 19-year-old daughter, who is also autistic, had become afraid to leave the house unless she was accompanied by her father.
Mr Hayes was sentenced by a Belgian court to 150 hours community service.
