When Leo Varadkar became Ireland’s Prime Minister in 2017, he was hailed as a fresh face in European politics, only 38 years old, his country’s first openly gay leader and the first with South Asian heritage — a personification of a rapidly modernising state.

Now he returns to the office on Saturday, in a pre-arranged power-sharing deal, with that initial optimism dissipated, and with question marks over his judgment and leadership style.

Varadkar, who trained as a doctor, was one of Europe’s youngest heads of government when he took over from Enda Kenny, then his party’s leader, who had become embroiled in a police whistle-blowing scandal. At the time, many Irish commentators viewed him as a breath of fresh air. He “comes across to the public, especially younger voters, as if he is not a politician at all”, the political columnist Stephen Collins wrote in The Irish Times in 2017.

Much was expected of Varadkar as he climbed the ranks. The son of an immigrant — his father, who is also a doctor, is from Mumbai; his mother is an Irish nurse — Varadkar announced that he was gay in 2015. That statement, during a referendum about legalising gay marriage, was cited by some as having contributed to the measure’s approval.

Then, as Prime Minister, or taoiseach, Varadkar oversaw another referendum this time to legalise abortion. That measure, voted on in 2018, was also approved. For many, Varadkar was a symbol of Ireland’s transition to a socially liberal, secular nation.

But by the time Varadkar became Prime Minister, his party, Fine Gael, had already been in power for six years, and he could not shield it from deepening crises in housing, health and education on its watch. In the 2020 election, Fine Gael slumped to third place for the first time in its history and was forced into a coalition with a rival Centre-Right party, Fianna Fail, to hold onto power.

The coalition deal demoted Varadkar to deputy Prime Minister. Micheal Martin of Fianna Fail took over for the first two and a half years of the usual five-year term; now, Varadkar gets another chance.

New York Times News Service