The Tuam Chambers and Border
Enda Kenny resigned as Taoiseach on 13 June. The following day Dáil Éireann nominated Leo Varadkar, Fine Gael’s new leader, for appointment by President Michael D. Higgins. The nomination passed by 57 votes to 43, with 35 abstentions: a reminder that Varadkar led a minority administration dependent on the confidence-and-supply arrangement with Fianna Fáil. At thirty-eight, he was Ireland’s youngest Taoiseach to date and its first openly gay head of government. His appointment had a symbolic importance in a republic whose public culture had changed rapidly in the preceding decade.