Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar resigns

Ireland’s wall-breaking Prime Minister Leo Varadkar spoke on Wednesday, days after two referendums in which voters rejected constitutional reforms his government had pushed for, and after years of public support for his Fine Gael party. He announced that he would resign in response to the decline in his performance.

Mr Varadkar, the gay son of an Irish nurse and doctor born in Mumbai, was appointed prime minister in 2017 at the age of 38, making him the country’s youngest-ever leader. In many ways he represented a rapidly changing society. Modern Irish national identity.

However, Fine Gael, which is in a coalition government with two other parties, has struggled in recent years, with opinion polls showing public support for the party is flat ahead of local and European elections in June. There is.

“I know this will be a surprise to many and a disappointment to some, but I hope you understand my decision,” Mr Varadkar told a press conference outside Leinster House in central Dublin. Told. “I know other people do too, but how do I put it? — I can handle the news better,” he said. “That’s the great thing about living in a democracy.”

Mr Varadkar, 45, will step down from the party leadership with immediate effect, citing both “personal and political” reasons, and will remain prime minister until Fine Gael elects a new leader before the Easter break. He said he intended to do so. The position will be filled when the government returns on April 16.

Mr Varadkar made the unexpected announcement shortly after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning, his voice at times a little emotional.

When he visited the White House a few days ago on St. Patrick’s Day and met with President Biden, there was no indication of his decision. But Mr Varadkar has been unable to revive that fortune since Fine Gael finished third in the 2020 election, when Sinn Féin received the most votes. Sinn Féin is a political party that has historically advocated for the unification of Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. , with the Republic of Ireland. The result was a blow to the long-standing dominance of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, who were set to form a coalition government with the Greens.

Eoin O’Malley, associate professor of politics at Dublin City University, said Mr Varadkar’s announcement came as a surprise but said the party had not been in a politically strong position for some time.

Professor O’Malley said: “This politician is in some sense depressed,” pointing to Mr Varadkar’s own resignation speech as evidence of this. “There’s a really jaded party atmosphere.”

In the past few months, around a third of Fine Gael MPs have announced they will retire from politics ahead of the 2025 election.

And while there is no clear successor in waiting, Mr Varadkar believes “a younger, more dynamic leader may be the best chance for the party to try to present a new face”. Professor Oh said that he may have decided to resign. Marie added.

Mr Varadkar first became prime minister in 2017 after his predecessor, Enda Kenny, resigned over his handling of a corruption scandal.

A former health minister, he oversaw the 2018 referendum that repealed the abortion ban, but this included several measures to reorganize the Irish constitution in a way that reflected Ireland’s more secular and liberal modern identity. It was one of the. After the coalition government was formed in June 2020, he served as deputy prime minister before reassuming the leadership role as part of a power-sharing agreement between the two parties.

Much of Mr Varadkar’s work since then, and in the latter half of his first term, has been focused on navigating the post-Brexit situation that threatened to undermine the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that forged decades of peace on the island of Ireland. was focused.

He was praised for his efforts, which were seen as essential to winning significant concessions from Britain. This included negotiating a deal with then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to avoid a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

When the coronavirus pandemic began, Mr Varadkar, who trained as a doctor before entering politics, returned to the medical register to work part-time.

But Mr Varadkar’s return to a political leadership role in 2022 – despite his party falling to third place in the last election – is in many ways an unexpected and difficult second act. became.

“That’s not the Leo Varadkar we saw the last time he played the role,” said David Farrell, professor of political science at University College Dublin. “I was definitely starting to lose energy.”

Professor Farrell said “suddenly immigration has become a really big topic” ahead of next year’s general election. “We always expected this kind of possibility for far-right policies to take hold here, and unfortunately we’re now starting to see some of the signs of that,” he added. Even Sinn Féin, which remains the most popular party in opinion polls, has seen its support decline due to its immigration policies, while support for independent candidates focused on immigration has increased.

Mr Varadkar has recently come under fire for his failed campaign in the dual referendum earlier this month, which the Coalition government had hoped to win. Irish voters have rejected two constitutional amendments that would have removed language regarding women’s domestic duties and expanded the definition of family beyond marriage.

Analysts said the result partly reflected a weak campaign for the amendment, confusion surrounding the proposal and a lower-than-expected turnout focused on the government’s approach.

In announcing his resignation, Mr Varadkar acknowledged that despite his many successes, he had “less success in other areas and setbacks in some areas”. “I’ll leave it to others to point out days like this,” he said.

“I am aware that there will inevitably be speculation about the ‘real reasons’ for my decision,” he said in making the announcement. “Those are the real reasons. That’s it. I don’t have anything else scheduled or in mind. I don’t have any clear personal or political plans, but I’m looking forward to having time to think about them.”

Fianna Fáil leader and deputy prime minister Michael Martin said on Wednesday that he and Green Party leader Eamonn Ryan had been briefed by Mr Varadkar on Tuesday night about his decision to resign.

“To be honest, when I heard what he was going to do, I was obviously surprised, but I wanted to take this opportunity to really thank him,” Martin said.

Mr Martin said he believed the government had a clear mission and a clear program for moving forward.

The news was greeted with a mostly shrugged-off crowd in Galway, in the west of Ireland, on Wednesday, with many not even hearing the news of Mr Varadkar’s resignation. But some saw the surprise announcement as evidence of headwinds for Ireland.

“This country is truly in turmoil,” said Camillus Kelly, 69. He cited the housing crisis and strained social welfare programs as evidence of the problem. Mr. Kelly said his wife has health issues and “we have to fight for all the help we can get.”

However, some praised Varadkar’s steady leadership. Paddy Monaghan said his long tenure in Irish politics had left a mark but the overwhelming ‘no’ vote in this month’s referendum was proof of the challenge.

“It’s very sad,” Monaghan said. “I thought he was brilliant. Politics today is not easy.”

Ali Watkins Contributed report from Galway, Ireland.