Leo Varadkar has ‘no regrets’ as he officially resigns as Ireland’s premier

Leo Varadkar has said he has “no regrets” about standing down, as he officially resigned as Ireland’s premier.

The Dublin politician, who has been Taoiseach for four years, said he was looking forward to a “different chapter”.

Mr Varadkar arrived at the official residence of Irish President Michael D Higgins, Aras an Uachtarain, on Monday, five minutes earlier than scheduled.

Mr Higgins is understood to have greeted Mr Varadkar in the president’s study, where a letter of resignation was handed to the secretary general of the Irish president.

After having some refreshments with Mr Higgins and his wife, Sabina, Mr Varadkar left 45 minutes later.

Mr Varadkar waved to the media before getting into a waiting car, and Mr Higgins waved goodbye as he left.

Mr Varadkar, 45, will remain Taoiseach in a caretaker capacity until a new premier is voted in by Irish parliamentarians.

He shocked the country when he announced three weeks ago that he was resigning as Fine Gael leader immediately, and would stand down as Taoiseach once his successor had been appointed.

New Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, 37, is expected to be appointed Ireland’s next taoiseach, and the youngest in its history, on Tuesday.

He is expected to reshuffle the Fine Gael ministerial team after his appointment.

Mr Varadkar, who is still a Dublin West TD, has said he will decide whether he will contest the next general election over the summer.

“I haven’t taken more than two consecutive weeks off since 1996, so I’m looking forward to having a decent summer break and make a decision then.”

In an interview with RTE News recorded before he officially resigned, he said he had no regrets about his decision.

“Today feels pretty good. It was a difficult decision to make that I oscillated on on a few occasions,” he said.

“It was a difficult decision to make and difficult to go through with on the day but certainly since then I’ve had no regrets and looking forward to a different chapter in my life.”

He said that among the high points of his time in office was securing a Brexit deal, leading the country through the Covid-19 pandemic and Ireland’s economic situation which he said was the “envy of the world”.

Asked about low points, he said: “I think one thing you do come to realise when you hold high office is that there are always problems and there’s always going to be challenges. You’re never going to wake up and find that your desk is empty because everything’s been fixed.”

He said that his main regret would be exercising “excessive caution” on investing in infrastructure at certain points, such as after the economic crash and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said that there were “big spending decisions that we could have made a year or two earlier, and that would have put us in a better position today when it comes to things like housing, for example”.

He said of becoming Taoiseach: “It’s almost impossible to prepare for. You pretty much become a different person the day you become Taoiseach and the hopes and fears of 5.3 million people are on your shoulders.

“So what I’ve said to minister Harris, to Simon, is to be himself, to trust himself.

“Take advice, absolutely, take advice very widely, but trust your gut instincts and your own intuition.”

His official resignation came hours after he attended the North South Ministerial Council in Co Armagh, in what was his last major political engagement.

Mr Varadkar said it was an honour to end his tenure as Taoiseach by attending the council.