Simon Harris, the 37-year-old former minister for further and higher education was appointed as the Prime Minister- Taoiseach of Ireland Tuesday. Harris is the youngest Taoiseach in Ireland’s history, replacing Leo Varadkar, who resigned last month.
Before Harris was appointed, Varadkar was the holder of the title of the youngest prime minister in the history of Ireland, appointed to the post at the age of 38. The lower house of the Irish Parliament (Dáil Éireann) voted 88-69 in favor of Harris, sealing his meteoric rise to Taoiseach, after first entering the parliament at age 24 in 2011.
Simon Harris’s Speech as the new Taoiseach
In his speech after being elected by the Dáil, Harris said: “I promise ‘to preside over a government committed to public service, at a time when such commitment is so urgently required’. I believed then that a Taoiseach should work every day to realize ‘the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of our people’. I still do”
Prime Minister Modi on Congratulating Harris
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday congratulated Harris on “becoming the youngest ever Prime Minister of Ireland” on X (formerly Twitter). Modi added: “Highly value our historical ties that are based on shared belief in democratic values. Looking forward to work together to further strengthen India- Ireland bilateral partnership.”
Congratulations @SimonHarrisTD on becoming youngest ever Prime Minister of Ireland. Highly value our historical ties that are based on shared belief in democratic values. Looking forward to work together to further strengthen India- Ireland bilateral partnership.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2024
Who is Simon Harris?
Simon Harris was elected as the leader of the Fine Gael(FG) on March 24 , 2024, which is the third largest party in the lower house of the Irish parliament. The FG is a part of a three-party coalition that has been governing Ireland since February 2020. The other two parties are the Fianna Fail (FF) and the Green Party.
In 2022, Harris in an interview with Irish magazine Hot Press, said: “I went to Saint David’s in Greystones, and then I went to DIT, where I studied journalism and French. It’s a four-year degree, but about three years into it, the opportunity arose to get more involved in politics. It was one that I just couldn’t not seize, because I saw an opportunity to try and make a difference.”

He is the oldest of the three children, and the son of a special needs assistant and a taxi driver, according to his remarks. His brother was born with special needs, which led Harris into the path of politics.
The FG returned to power in 2016, which saw Harris become the minister of health before signing a power-sharing agreement with the FF in the wake of the 2020 general elections.
The next Ireland general election is due before March 2025.
The resignation of former President Varadkar
Varadkar was the first openly gay prime minister of Ireland led the country across two terms from 2017 to 2020 and from 2022 until his resignation.
He led Ireland through the aftermath of the United Kingdom’s vote to exit the European Union(Brexit) and the referendum to abolish the constitutional ban on abortion.
The EU(Brexit) was very extremely contentious given the existence of the Good Friday agreement signed in 1998, which brought a semblance of peace and security on the island of Ireland and let to the establishment of certain shared institutions with its neighbor Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.
Last month, Varadkar led the government’s efforts to expand the definition of “family” and enshrine gender equality in Ireland’s constitution. The proposed 39th amendment to the constitution was meant to broaden the definition of what constitutes a family and the 40th amendment aimed at deleting language stating that the place of a woman is at home.
But the referendum on 8th March vetoed the amendments. At the time of the loss, Varadkar declared that the voters had delivered “two wallops” to the government. Less than two weeks later he announced his resignation as Taoiseach.
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