Ireland will have gay premier for the first time

[Penguin]

Published: 02 June 2017 20:11 Last update: 02 June 2017 20:53

The Irish government party Fine Gael has chosen Leo Varadkar as her new political leader. The 38-year-old son of an Indian immigrant is openly homosexual and follows Enda Kenny (66) as prime minister.

That is a remarkable change of generation and social change among Irish Christian Democrats.

Kenny announced his farewell after a disappointing election results. Because Michael Noonan, Finance Minister, also leaves a real rejuvenation in the Irish Cabinet. Varadkar is either a member of a center-right, conservative party, as minister of social affairs, he made it clear that he was reform-oriented and social in 'left-wing' issues.

Varadkar received preference over colleague minister Simon Coveney, as expected. He won by a large majority. The new foreman of Fine Gael is likely to be installed as minister president, the youngest in the history of the Catholic country on June 13, when the parliament meets again.

Gay marriage
In 2015, Ireland fought against the gay marriage. Varadkar was the biggest advocate in the campaign for this. His supporter now hopes that he will do something about the strict abortion legislation.

Varadkar's political interest was raised early. At high school he became a member of Fine Gael and in 2004 he was elected on behalf of the party in the city council of West Dublin. Three years later, 28 years old, the ambitious and talented career politician arrived in parliament.

From 2011 Varadkar was in succession Minister of Transport, Health and Social Affairs.

http://www.nu.nl/buitenland/4741767/ierland-krijgt-eerst-homoseksuele-premier.html

I would like to add there isn't something like gay marriage. There is the civil law institution of marriage and in some countries people of the same sex can now also get married, just like heterosexuals have alsways been able to.

 

[TMA]

The Irish are committing suicide.

 

[Penguin]

Ireland's largest religious group is Christianity. The largest denomination is Roman Catholicism representing over 73% for the island (and about 87% of the Republic of Ireland). Most of the rest of the population adhere to one of the various Protestant denominations (about 48% of Northern Ireland). The largest is the Anglican Church of Ireland.
The Muslim community is growing in Ireland, mostly through increased immigration, with a 50% increase in the republic between the 2006 and 2011 census. The island has a small Jewish community.
About 4% of the Republic's population and about 14% of the Northern Ireland population describe themselves as of no religion. In a 2010 survey conducted on behalf of the Irish Times, 32% of respondents said they went to a religious service more than once a week.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland#Demographics

The Republic of Ireland is a predominantly Christian country. The majority are Roman Catholic, although this group has been experiencing a decline in recent years. As of the 2016 census, 78.3% were Catholic, a drop of 5.8% since 2011. Conversely, irreligion has almost doubled since 2011 with 9.8% declaring 'No Religion' in 2016, overtaking Protestantism as the second largest group in the state. The various Protestant and other Christian faiths represent 5.6%, Islam 1.3%, other religions 2.4% and 2.6% gave no answer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Republic_of_Ireland#Religions

... which I find interesting: apparantly a highly Roman Catholic society has few if any problems with homosexuality.

 

[NoOne'sBoy]

Well done to them. His sexual orientation and ethnic background didn't matter. Only his abilities and qualifications did. He also didn't use his race and sexual orientation to promote his campaign. This is how a meritocracy works.

 

[Penguin]

This is how a meritocracy works.

Yes, indeed, as it should work.