Ireland’s governing Fine Gael party on Friday elected Leo Varadkar, the gay son of an Indian immigrant, as its new leader and the country’s likely next prime minister. He is highly likely to become prime minister in Ireland’s coalition government, although not immediately. His confirmation as Taoiseach — Ireland’s prime minister — would come when the lower house of parliament resumes after a break on June 13. At 38, Varadkar would be Ireland’s youngest prime minister, as well as the first from an ethnic-minority background and the first openly gay leader. If confirmed as prime minister, Varadkar will lead a country still emerging from the shadow of the 2008 global financial crisis, which hit the debt-fueled “Celtic Tiger” economy particularly hard.

Source: National Post June 02, 2017 20:15 UTC