He’s back in command. Leo Varadkar succeeds as Prime Minister of Ireland to Micheal Martin, in an unprecedented transfer between the two main parties of the centre-right ruling coalition. He exchanges his post of Deputy Prime Minister the head of government since 2020.
Leo Varadkar, a mixed-race and gay doctor, thus becomes for the second time, at the age of 43, Prime Minister of an Ireland long reputed to be very conservative. In 2017, Leo Varadkar, then 38, became Ireland’s youngest prime minister.
“New Hope”
“I accept this nomination with humility and determination and the desire (…) to offer new hope and new opportunities to all our citizens”, he declared, once his nomination was validated by the vote of parliamentarians during of a special session.
Micheal Martin tendered his resignation Saturday morning during an audience with Irish President Michael D. Higgins in Dublin. It represents “the honor of a lifetime” to have served as prime minister, he said. Coming from rival camps during the civil war at the beginning of the 20th century, the two centre-right parties (Varadkar’s Fine Gael and Martin’s Fianna Fail) set up this rotating post as part of a coalition with the Greens after the 2020 elections.
The transfer of power will lead to a cabinet reshuffle, and the next general election is to be held by spring 2025.