The rise and fall of Leo Varadkar

Leo Varadkar, who resigned yesterday, has certainly earned his place in the history of Anglo-Irish relations as one of the most consequential taoiseachs of all time. His role in Anglo-Irish relations was defined by Brexit, and Ireland’s remarkable role in shaping its outcome. The marked contrast with John Bruton – a previous Fine Gael taoiseach of the 1990s, who died last month – could not be greater. Bruton was also a militant Europhile, but he rarely sought to fan the flames of Anglophobia in the Irish Republic. Varadkar, by contrast, sought to ride that tiger relentlessly. 

Varadkar became taoiseach just as the Brexit negotiations began, in June 2017. The basic principles that would guide the EU in those negotiations had been set out under his predecessor, Enda Kenny – including ‘no hard border on the island of Ireland’ – but how they would be applied in practice were all to play for, and as has now been proved, would make all the difference to its acceptability and workability. Kenny