The GP who became Ireland’s youngest taoiseach

Leo Varadkar is stepping down as Fine Gael leader and Irish prime minister. He is the son of an Irish-born nurse and a Indian-born doctor. He was just 38 years old when he began his first term as taoiseach in 2017. At the time, he was widely seen as embodying the liberalisation of Ireland.

The future Irish leader was born on 18 January 1979 in Dublin. His father Ashok - a doctor from Mumbai - met his mother Miriam, an Irish nurse, while they were both working in Slough in Berkshire. Until the 1990s, homosexuality and divorce were illegal in Ireland. Mr Varadkar followed his father into medicine, qualifying as a GP in 2010.

He became a councillor aged 24 and, in 2007, he was elected to the Irish parliament. He rose to power after a turbulent decade of boom to bust. In 2015, he came out as gay in an interview with Irish national broadcaster, RTÉ. Ireland voted to legalise same-sex marriage in a referendum last year.

The then taoiseach, Enda Kenny, is now in his second term. His second term has been beset by problems including a cost of living crisis. The Irish government is also struggling to house thousands of Ukrainian refugees. In November 2023, much of Dublin city centre was engulfed by serious rioting.

The rioting was sparked by the stabbing of children outside a school. It took the country#39;s police force by surprise, and the government#38;s response to the riot was widely criticised.