The announcement on 20 March 2024 of Leo Varadkar’s decision to resign as taoiseach came as a shock to the press, the public and many of his colleagues in the Oireachtas. Having served in the Dáil as a TD since 2007,  having held ministerial rank since 2011, and having held office as taoiseach from 2017 to 2020 and 2022 to 2024, Varadkar has decided at the relatively young age of 45 to quit politics. In an article in Tinteán, I look at the life and career of this interesting Irish politician, who at 38 years of age became Ireland’s youngest taoiseach. He was also its first mixed-race premier, its first government leader not to be a practising Catholic, and its first openly gay head of government. Varadkar will be remembered as a clear-thinking, policy-oriented, straight-talking politician – though some might call him gaffe-prone. He led Ireland calmly and with confidence through the abortion referendum, the Brexit negotiations, and the early stages of the pandemic.