Leo Varadkar becomes Deputy PM in historic Irish coalition pact

The office of Taoiseach, as the Irish PM is known, is to rotate between Ireland’s two centrist parties Varadkar’s Fine Gael and Martin’s Fianna Fail after they agreed ambitious climate targets to seal a power-sharing deal with the Green Party this week. Martin is expected to lead Ireland until December 2022, when Varadkar is expected to take over again as Taoiseach.

It marks the first time in history that former Civil War rivals Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have governed together. While the Irish parties had never entered government together before, Varadkar’s outgoing administration has worked on a confidence and supply agreement of conditional support with Fianna Fail since 2016. The vote took place on Saturday at the Convention Centre in Dublin.