Leo Varadkar, a 38-year-old Indian-origin doctor, on Wednesday scripted history by becoming Ireland’s youngest and first openly gay Prime Minister in the Catholic- majority country.
Varadkar, officially took over as Taoiseach, as the Irish prime ministerial title is known in Ireland, after a parliamentary vote confirmed him as the leader by 57 votes to 50, with 47 abstentions.
The former general physician, who is the son of an Irish nurse and a doctor from India, won the Fine Gael party leadership earlier this month. He has made his leadership rival Simon Coveney the deputy leader of the party.
After the win, Varadkar had said, “If my election shows anything, it’s that prejudice has no hold in this Republic.” “When my father travelled 5,000 miles to build a new home in Ireland, I doubt he ever dreamed his son would grow up to be its leader,” he said.
The Irish PM's extended joint family in India comprises four uncles and five aunts, including Manohar Varadkar, 93, and Madhukar Varadkar, who are freedom fighters, and Avinash, 79, a former Indian Railway employee, and a host of cousins and their children.
