Simon Harris Becomes Ireland’s Youngest Prime Minister At Age 37

On Tuesday, Simon Harris became the youngest prime minister in Ireland’s history following a meeting with President Michael D Higgins.

Earlier, Ireland’s Dail, parliament’s lower house, voted to approve the 37-year-old as their next taoiseach by 88 votes to 69.

Mr Harris’s appointment – which came after the shock resignation of Leo Varadkar last month – was confirmed during a ceremony with President Higgins at his official residence at Aras an Uachtarain in Dublin.

Mr Varadkar, 45, tendered his official resignation to the president on Monday evening after saying his reasons for stepping down were “both personal and political”.

Father-of-two Mr Harris was the only candidate to put his name forward in the Fine Gael leadership contest.

Ireland’s 15th taoiseach will be heading a coalition government with his Fine Gael party, Fianna Fail and Eamon Ryan’s Green party.

Mr Harris, from Greystones in County Wicklow, will now be handling a reshuffle of Fine Gael ministers, including which of his colleagues replaces him as minister for further and higher education.

The Wicklow representative’s wife Caoimhe and young children Saoirse and Cillian were in the public gallery of the Dail, as were his parents Mary and Bart and brother Adam and sister Gemma.

Government TDs (members of parliament) rose to applaud as the outcome of the vote was announced, and later cheered and hugged Mr Harris as he emerged from the parliament building at Leinster House in central Dublin ahead of his trip to see the president.

Addressing the Dail before the ceremony at the Aras, Mr Harris said he hoped to lead a “partnership government” in a spirit of “unity, collaboration and mutual respect”.

He praised his predecessor, Mr Varadkar, for his “incredible service“, while also paying tribute to his family, including his wife, who he described as his “rock“.