Simon Harris became Ireland’s youngest prime minister ever on Tuesday, with promises to bring new ideas and energy with the time frame of less than a year he has to spur the coalition government’s bid to prevent a first electoral victory by left-wing Sinn Fein.
The 37-year-old former health and higher education minister, well known for helping steer the initial response to COVID-19, was elected unopposed as the leader of Fine Gael in March, and he had made assurances that he would succeed Leo Varadkar as the 16th person to lead the country in the aftermath of his predecessor’s surprising exit.
Harris will be facing the same issues his predecessor had to battle, most particularly a severe shortage of affordable housing and growing anxiety at the record numbers of asylum seekers, that led to Fine Gael’s stagnation under Varadkar.
The new Prime Minister is also inheriting a coalition agreement that leaves little room for key new policy initiatives.
Harris, who withdrew from the university at age 20 to work as a political aide, was elected to parliament at 24 and appointed to cabinet before he turned 30, is a year younger than Varadkar was when he was first appointed prime minister in 2017.
