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PoliticsIreland

Leo Varadkar to step down as Irish prime minister

March 20, 2024

In a surprising move, Leo Varadkar is resigning as taoiseach, or Irish prime minister, and as head of the Fine Gael party. He has said his reasons are "both personal and political."

https://p.dw.com/p/4dw5K
Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar speaks to media at a European Union leaders' summit
Varadkar returned as taoiseach, or prime minister, in December 2022Image: Johanna Geron/REUTERS

Leo Varadkar announced on Wednesday that he is stepping down as taoiseach,  Ireland's prime minister, as soon as a successor for the job is chosen.

"Politicians are human beings. We have our limitations," he said. "We give it everything until we can't anymore and then we have to move on."

Varadkar is also resigning immediately as head of the Fine Gael party. 

A new prime minister will take over after a party leadership contest. 

Varadkar said his reasons for stepping down were "both personal and political."

"I'm proud that we have made the country a more equal and more modern place," the taoiseach said in his resignation statement in Dublin.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announces surprise resignation

Who is Leo Varadkar?

Varadkar first became taoiseach in 2017 and remained in his role until 2020. The 45-year-old was the country's youngest leader when he first entered office. In December 2022, he returned for his second term as taoiseach. 

Varadkar collected many firsts by becoming the leader of the government of the Republic of Ireland. As the son of an Irish mother and an Indian father, he was the country's first biracial prime minister.

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar gifts a bouquet of Shamrocks to US President Joe Biden during a St. Patrick's Day Celebration.
Varadkar recently went to Washington DC for the taoiseach's traditional St. Patricks Day visit to the USImage: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Varadkar is also the first openly gay taoiseach. He played a key role in the campaigns to legalize same-sex marriages and to repeal a ban on abortion. Same-sex marriage was approved in a referendum in 2015. In 2018, Ireland voted by a margin to repeal its near-complete ban on abortion. This was seen as a remarkable victory for women's rights.

Reactions to Varadkar's resignation

Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of the Fianna Fail party, which builds the coalition with the Fine Gael party, said Varadkar's announcement was "unexpected,” but he added that he is not worried that the government will fail to run its full term.

"We wish him well on his next steps, and we'll continue to work closely with him as a successor is sought,” the spokesperson for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.

Some potential successors for the role could be the Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee. Minister for Trade Simon Coveney said on Wednesday that he would not seek the prime minister post.

as,so/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)