Displaying items by tag: Leo Varadkar

Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar has announced his immediate resignation as Fine Gael party leader and will step down as Taoiseach once his successor is chosen. He led Ireland from 2017 and took pride in guiding the nation towards economic stability, equality, and modernisation. Varadkar noted his role in referendums legalising same-sex marriage and abortion and improvements in childcare, arts, and infrastructure. Citing personal and political reasons for his departure, Varadkar believes he is no longer the best fit for the role. His decision is not expected to trigger a general election, as the coalition government, including Fianna Fáil and the Green Party, remains committed to its term. Opposition leaders have called for a change in government. There are at least five contenders for the leadership of Fine Gael, with an 18-19 day selection process expected.

Leo Varadkar, the Irish deputy prime minister and the leader of Fine Gael, says that while the views of unionists must be ‘acknowledged and respected, ‘no one group can have a veto on Ireland's future’. He told delegates at a virtual Fine Gael conference on 15 June that he wanted to see the party establish a branch north of the border. ‘We should be proud to say unification is something we aspire to, It should be part of our mission as a party to work towards it.’ He also said there was a growing middle ground in Northern Ireland, and Fine Gael should reach out towards it. However, he said unification must not be the ‘annexation’ of Northern Ireland. ‘It means a new state in which almost a million people are British. Like the new South Africa, a rainbow nation, not just orange and green.’