The Prime Minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkarannounced this Wednesday his resignation as head of the Irish Government and has confirmed that he will also leave his position as leader of the conservative party Fine Gaela resignation the latter that has become effective along the way.

“I make my resignation effective today as leader of Fine Gael and I will leave the position of Taoiseach as soon as there is a successor,” he said during a press conference in which he said he was proud to “have made this a more egalitarian and modern country“.

Varadkar has stated that the time he has spent at the head of the country has been “the most satisfying” of his lifebut he has stated that “leadership involves knowing when the time has come to pass the baton and have the courage to do it“. “That moment is now,” he pointed out.

“I know that this will take many by surprise and will be a disappointment for some, but I hope you understand my decision,” he stated before clarifying that The reasons for leaving office are “personal and political”. Thus, he has defended that Fine Gael will be able to continue leading the next Government, although it will do so without him at the helm.

In this sense, he has highlighted the achievements of his Government, such as the improvement in employment, the exit from austerity, the management of the pandemic and having avoided a “hard border” with Northern Ireland within the framework of the process of leaving the Kingdom. United Kingdom of the European Union.

The elections, at the latest in March 2025

Varadkar, who has been the youngest Prime Minister of Ireland to hold the position after coming to power in 2017, will wait for his party to elect a successor before making his resignation effective in view of the holding of the next general elections, whose deadline is placed at March 2025according to information from the RTE channel.

Fine Gael is expected to elect Varadkar’s successor throughout the month of Aprilso the investiture session will take place later in the Irish Parliament.

The decision was taken after the Government failed in its attempt to modernize the Constitution in the framework of the referendum held on March 9, which has been a severe setback for both the traditional Irish parties that govern in coalition, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green PartyAs the Sinn Feinwho leads the opposition, since all of them had supported the changes.

The proposals raised eliminate sexist language from the constitutional text and expand the concept of family to include non-traditional models and “long-term relationships.” However, the first initiative has been rejected with 67.69% of the votes and the second with 73.93%.

The Government has not been able to convince the population of the urgency of these referendums, while the leader of the opposition Sinn Féin, Mary Lou McDonaldhas held Varadkar’s Executive responsible for the result.