Background
Varadkar was born in Dublin, the son of an Indian father (a retired General Practice in Blanchardstown) and a mother from County Waterford.
Varadkar was born in Dublin, the son of an Indian father (a retired General Practice in Blanchardstown) and a mother from County Waterford.
Trinity College.
He is a qualified medical doctor and the first openly gay Irish government minister. Varadkar was co-opted to Fingal County Council in 2003 as a replacement for Sheila Terry. At the 2004 local elections, he was elected to the council to represent the Castleknock local electoral area and topped the poll.
He is a former vice-president of the Youth of the European People"s Party and an alumnus of the Washington Ireland Program.
At the 2011 general election, Varadkar was re-elected to Dáil Éireann with 8,359 first preference votes (a 197% share of the poll in a 4-seat constituency). This was considered a surprise appointment as Varadkar was not renowned as a sports lover.
He said that while he knew "a lot of facts..I don"t play the sports."
In May 2011, Varadkar suggested Ireland was "very unlikely" to resume borrowing in 2012 and might need a second bailout, causing jitters on international markets about Ireland"s credibility. Many of Varadkar"s cabinet colleagues were not impressed with Varadkar"s forthrightness.
Nor was the European Central Bank.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny repeated the Government line that the State would not require a further European Union-International Monetary Fund bailout and said he had warned all ministers against making negative public remarks about the economy. Varadkar said that reaction to the story was hyped up but that he was not misquoted. Responding to Varadkar"s decision to express his opinion in public, Independent News & Media"s Evening Herald paper described the minister as gaffe prone, as it had also done previously.
In the cabinet reshuffle of July 2014, Varadkar replaced James Reilly as Minister for Health.
A Young Fine Gael veteran and Teachta Dála (Territorial Decoration) for the Dublin West constituency since June 2007, he is a former vice-president of the Youth of the European People"s Party and an alumnus of the Washington Ireland Program. He studied at King"s Hospital School, Palmerstown and Trinity College, where he earned a medical degree and joined Young Fine Gael. He was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2007 general election, and became party spokesperson for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from 2007–2010.
Fine Gael formed a coalition government with Labour and Varadkar was appointed Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport on 9 March 2011.