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Leo
Varadkar,
the
son
of
an
Indian
immigrant,
is
set
to
be
Ireland's
Prime
Minister
after
he
won
an
internal
contest
to
lead
the
centre-right
Fine
Gael,
the
senior
coalition
partner
in
the
Republic's
minority
government.
The
outspoken
Mr.
Varadkar,
the
incumbent
Social
Protection
Minister,
is
to
take
over
the
reins
of
the
party
and
country
from
Enda
Kenny,
who
is
stepping
down
after
heading
the
party
for
15
years
and
the
country
for
six.
Mr.
Varadkar
will
be
Ireland's
first-ever
openly
gay
Prime
Minister
with
minority
and
immigrant
roots.
He
is
just
38
years
old,
and
thus
in
a
club
of
young
world
leaders
with
France's
Emmanuel
Macron
and
Canada's
Justin
Trudeau.
While
it
is
indeed
remarkable
that
a
person
of
Mr.
Varadkar's
background
has
been
elected
to
lead
Ireland,
what
is
even
more
striking
is
that
during
the
ruling
party's
elections
voters
focussed
not
on
his
background
but
on
his
policies.
This
speaks
volumes
for
how
far
the
country
has
come
on
its
social
attitudes.
Ireland
is
deeply
religious.
Catholicism,
the
state
religion,
has
a
far-reaching
influence
on
many
aspects
of
Irish
life,
including
birth,
death
and
marriage.
Abortions,
except
to
save
the
mother's
life,
are
illegal;
divorce,
legalised
in
the
1990s,
requires
a
four-year
separation;
and
gay
marriage
was
legalised
just
recently.
As
Prime
Minister,
Mr.
Kenny
steered
Ireland
out
of
the
financial
collapse
of
2008-2010
and
campaigned,
successfully,
for
the
European
Union
(EU)
to
recognise
Ireland's
unique
position
during
the
forthcoming
Brexit
negotiations
between
Brussels
and
London.
The
Republic
of
Ireland
is
contiguous
with
Northern
Ireland,
and
therefore
the
only
EU
country
that
shares
a
land
border
with
the
U.K.
Mr.
Kenny
leaves
office
having
convinced
the
EU
to
address
the
fallout
for
Ireland
during
Brexit
negotiations.
He
also
leaves
Mr.
Varadkar
a
vastly
improved
economy,
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