LATEST: Leo Varadkar pledges humility and resolve as he becomes Taoiseach again
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar leaving Leinster House after being nominated as Taoiseach.
Leo Varadkar promised new hope and opportunities for the people of Ireland as he became Taoiseach for a second time.
In a planned handover of power at the top of the ruling three-party coalition government in Dublin, Fine Gael leader Mr Varadkar replaced Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin as Taoiseach on Saturday.
TDs in the Dáil voted 87 to 62 to support his appointment in a special sitting.
Mr Varadkar was officially confirmed as Taoiseach at an audience with President Michael D Higgins at his residence in Dublin shortly afterwards.
After receiving the seal of office from the President, Mr Varadkar said: “I’m honoured and privileged to have the opportunity to serve again. And I look forward to getting down to the hard work in the next few hours.”
Leo Varadkar has been nominated as Taoiseach for the second time during a special sitting of the Dáil.
The Fine Gael leader will soon travel to Áras an Uachtaráin where his appointment will be confirmed by President Michael D Higgins.
Cabinet colleagues will also be confirmed in office by the President later in the day before the new-look government is expected to hold its first meeting.
Some 87 TDs voted in favour of the nomination, with 62 against.
Earlier, Micheál Martin formally resigned as taoiseach, paving the way for Mr Varadkar to succeed him in a planned handover of power.
The Fine Gael leader is replacing Fianna Fáil leader Mr Martin at the head of Government under the terms of the coalition deal struck in 2020.
Micheál Martin has formally resigned as Taoiseach, paving the way for Leo Varadkar to succeed him in a planned handover of power.
Mr Varadkar will later be confirmed as taoiseach for the second time following a special sitting of the Dáil in Dublin.
The Fine Gael leader is replacing Fianna Fáil leader Mr Martin at the head of government under the terms of a coalition deal struck in 2020.
Support Mr Varadkar’s nomination, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan made a footballing analogy.
“It’s like half time, the captain’s armband will be passed from one to the other,” he said.
Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald criticised the government’s record as she opposed the nomination of Mr Varadkar during Saturday’s Dáil exchanges.
She said the resignation of Mr Martin should trigger a general election as she accused the coalition of being “out of touch, out of ideas and out of time”.
Ms McDonald questioned the outgoing taoiseach’s claim that the government was delivering.
“Well, the rest of us must live in a very different Ireland from you,” she said.
“And you now pass the baton to Leo Varadkar at a time where more than 11,000 of our people are homeless, including more than 3,000 children. Close to one million people are on treatment waiting lists, many working families queue at food banks to get a hot meal.
Mr Martin formally tendered his resignation during an audience with Ireland’s President Michael D Higgins at the presidential residence at Aras an Uachtarain in Dublin on Saturday morning. He was accompanied by his wife Mary.
Mr Martin said it had been “the honour of a lifetime” to serve the public as taoiseach.
In a video posted on social media Mr Martin said: “I want to take this opportunity to thank the many, many people across the length and breadth of the country for your courtesy and kindness, as I met you on many, many engagements.
I’m just on my way to the Áras to meet the President.
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) December 17, 2022
It’s been the honour of a lifetime to serve you as Taoiseach.
Looking forward to the second phase of this Government. We’ve done a lot, and we’ve still lots to do. pic.twitter.com/dRkbF2lLbx
“I’m looking forward to the second phase of this Government.
"We’ve done a lot in the first phase but we still have a lot to do.”
Setting aside almost a century of animosity, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, two parties forged out of Ireland’s Civil War of the 1920s, agreed to share power together in 2020 after that year’s inconclusive general election result.
The Green Party also joined the coalition.
Sinn Féin accused its two main rivals of conspiring to keep it out of power and has continued to heavily criticise the coalition administration in its role as the main opposition party in the Déil.
Mr Varadkar previously served as taoiseach from 2017 to 2020 at the head of a minority Fine Gael administration that relied on a confidence and supply arrangement with Fianna Fáil to maintain power.
The mid-term switch will also prompt a cabinet reshuffle in Dublin, however, there is expected to be minimal movement among the departmental portfolios.
Mr Martin will become Tánaiste and will also take on a ministerial post.
Mr Varadkar held the enterprise brief when he served as tánaiste and will vacate that post upon becoming taoiseach.
One scenario could see Mr Martin become Ireland’s foreign affairs minister, a position he held more than a decade ago.
Current foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney could then potentially replace his party leader Mr Varadkar at the helm of the department of enterprise.
It has already been agreed as part of the coalition agreement that Fine Gael Finance Minister Pascal Donohoe and Fianna Fáil Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath will switch roles.
Mr Varadkar will be nominated taoiseach during a sitting of the Dáil on Saturday morning.
The Fine Gael leader will then himself travel to Mr Higgins’ residence at Aras an Uachtarain where his appointment will be confirmed.
Cabinet colleagues will also be confirmed in office by the president later in the day before the new-look government is expected to hold its first meeting.
App?
