Leo Varadkar

Leo Varadkar (2020)

Leo Eric Varadkar (born January 18, 1979 in Dublin ) is an Irish politician and has been a member of the Dáil Éireann since 2007 . Since June 2, 2017, he has been party chairman of Fine Gael . He was the Prime Minister of Ireland from June 14, 2017 to June 27, 2020 .

life and career

Varadkar grew up as the son of a Bombay- born Indian doctor and a Dungarvan- born Irish nurse in the Dublin suburbs of Blanchardstown and Castleknock . He studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin and worked as a doctor at Blanchardstown Hospital . Varadkar began his political career in the Young Fine Gael; there he was a member of the board. Furthermore, Varadkar held the office of vice-president of the Youth of the European People's Party .

In May 2007 Varadkar was elected for the Fine Gael in the 30th Dáil Éireann. He had previously been a member of Fingal County Council since October 2003 . As a member of parliament , he campaigned for his constituency, Dublin West, by expanding and modernizing public transport there and opening a new wing at Blanchardstown Hospital .

On March 9, 2011, he became Minister of Transport, Tourism and Sports in the new government of Prime Minister Enda Kenny ; since the government reshuffle on July 11, 2014, he was Minister of Health. After Kenny announced his resignation, Varadkar prevailed against the only opposing candidate, Housing Minister Simon Coveney , in an election between the end of May and the beginning of June 2017 to succeed Kenny as party leader . He also succeeded Kenny as head of government , which he took up on June 14, 2017. Since June 14, 2017 he has also been Executive Secretary of Defense of Ireland .

In January 2015, on his 36th birthday, he became the first minister in Irish history to come out as gay. Before the referendum on same-sex marriage , he wanted to make it clear that there was no “hidden agenda” for him. He wished that the referendum would turn out positively because he wanted to be an equal citizen in his own country, which he was not at the time. His partner, Matthew Barrett, is a doctor at Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin.

Varadkar successfully campaigned for abortion legalization in Ireland.

As a result of the surprising victory of the left-wing Sinn Féin over the bourgeois parties in the 2020 elections for Dáil Éireann , Varadkar offered to resign on February 20, 2020. He remained in office until his successor Micheál Martin was elected. He has been Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment since June 27, 2020 , and the office of Prime Minister is due to return to him by the end of 2022.

social commitment

In the wake of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland , Varadkar is volunteering for the health services. Varadkar will volunteer one day a week, a government spokesman said on April 5, 2020 in Dublin. According to the Irish Times , he will be helping out with phone counseling for patients.