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Indian Leo Varadkar, of Indian origin, has announced to leave the post of Prime Minister of Ireland. Leo Varadkar, 45, said on Wednesday that he is stepping down as head of the Fine Gael party involved in Ireland’s coalition government. After his successor is chosen, he will also step down from the post of leader of the country. He said his reasons (for leaving the post) were ‘both personal and political’. After the party leadership selects a new person, he will be given the responsibility of Prime Minister.
Leo Varadkar served as Taoiseach or Prime Minister of Ireland twice (between June 2017 and February 2020, and again from December 2022). When first elected, he was the youngest leader of Ireland to hold the post of Prime Minister. He is also the first publicly known gay Prime Minister of Ireland. Leo Varadkar’s mother is of Irish origin and father is Indian.
Varadkar’s relationship with India
Leo Varadkar was born on 18 January 1979 in Dublin. His mother Mary was from Ireland and was a nurse. His father Ashok was an Indian immigrant. He was a doctor by profession and worked in the National Health Service of England in the 1960s. It was here that both of them met. According to a report by BBC Hindi, Ashok is a resident of Varad village in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra. The family settled in Ireland in the 1960s.
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Interested in politics since student life
Leo Varadkar was born in Ireland. He is the youngest son of his father Ashok Varadkar. His early education took place at St. Francis National School. For further studies, he took admission in a private secondary school, King’s Hospital. In 2003, he obtained a medical degree from Trinity College, Dublin. He was interested in politics since his student days. In 2007, he won the election from Dublin West on the Fine Gael Party ticket and became a councillor. At that time his age was only 24 years.
Came to India in 2019
After becoming the Prime Minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar celebrated the New Year in Goa in 2019. Then Varadkar went to his native village Varad located in Sindhdurg district for the first time with his family members. This was his first visit to his native village. This was a special moment for Varadkar, as three of his generations gathered in Varad.
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Took important responsibility during Covid time
When Varadkar became PM, Britain was preparing to implement Brexit and Ireland was discussing cross-border trade with it. Under the leadership of Varadkar, Ireland talked to Britain so that strict restrictions should not be imposed on the movement of people across the border between the two. After this, when elections were held in 2020, Varadkar was elected the new Deputy PM of the country.
The country was struggling with the Covid pandemic during this period and Varadkar’s challenges had increased. Varadkar, who left practice as a doctor in 2013, returned to practice in March 2020 during the pandemic. Seeing the need of doctors to deal with the crisis, he had decided to treat people once a week. During this time he used to give advice to people over the phone. This decision of his increased his popularity tremendously.
declare that he is gay
According to BBC Hindi, homosexuality was considered a crime in Ireland until 1993. In 2013, Ireland held a referendum, after which it recognized same-sex marriage in May 2015. A few months before this, in January 2015, Varadkar came out openly and publicly declared that he was gay. He was the Health Minister at that time. Varadkar’s partner Matthew Barrett is a doctor (cardiologist).
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Tag: Indian origin, Ireland, Maharashtra
first published : March 21, 2024, 8:18 pm IST
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