New Taoiseach / Referendum promised on abortion ban
After six years in office, Enda Kenny has stepped down as Ireland’s Taoiseach and passed the baton to 38-year-old Leo Varadkar, the son of an Indian immigrant and the country’s first openly gay leader.
On 2 June, after securing the party leadership over his rival Simon Coveney, Mr Varadkar told supporters from his centre-right Fine Gael party: “If my election shows anything, it is that prejudice has no hold in this Republic.”
The youngest Taoiseach or prime minister to ever lead the country now heads up a minority Government. Should the ruling Fine Gael-led coalition see through its term, Mr Varadkar will greet the Pope when he visits Ireland for the World Meeting of Families in August 2018.
Mr Varadkar qualified as a medical doctor before embarking on his political career. When he revealed in an RTÉ Radio interview in January 2015 that he was gay, he stated, “I’m not a half-Indian politician, or a doctor politician or a gay politician for that matter. It’s just part of who I am, it doesn’t define me, it is part of my character I suppose.”
Raised a Catholic, Mr Varadkar has said he is not “confessional” but sometimes attends Mass at Christmas. He is regarded as a conservative on issues such as the economy and law and order.
Mr Varadkar advocated a Yes vote in Ireland’s same-sex marriage referendum in 2015 when people voted overwhelmingly to amend the country’s constitution to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.
Speaking at the launch of his leadership manifesto “Taking Ireland forward”, he committed to holding a referendum on whether to repeal the constitutional ban on abortion next year.
An All-Party Committee is currently considering the issues. In Mr Varadkar’s opinion, once the committee has concluded its work and the Irish Parliament has debated that outcome, a final proposal should be put to a referendum in 2018.
Mr Varadkar has described himself in the past as pro-life and is opposed to abortion on demand, but more recently he has said his view is evolving.
In his manifesto, he described abortion as “a matter of sincerely held and different views within society and Fine Gael. It is essential that the debate ahead is conducted in a manner respectful of these different points of view.”
Cora Sherlock of the Pro-Life Campaign told The Tablet she felt it was too early to judge how Mr Varadkar will perform on this issue. “In more recent times I think his position has become muddled,” she said.
She also criticised the incoming Taoiseach for not meeting the families or individuals “who have heartrending stories to tell on abortion and the pressures they came under to have the abortion”.
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