IRELAND is poised to get its youngest-ever premier next month after Simon Harris secured the leadership of the Fine Gael party on Sunday.

Mr Harris replaces Leo Varadkar who announced his resignation last week.

The 37-year-old Harris, who has been the coalition government’s further and higher education minister, was the only candidate to put his name forward to succeed Mr Varadkar, who had been Ireland’s previous youngest prime minister, or what Ireland calls its taoiseach.

Mr Harris is expected to be formally elected premier in the Irish parliament in early April after lawmakers return from their Easter break.

In his victory speech in the central Ireland town of Athlone, Mr Harris said this was a “moment for Fine Gael to reconnect” with the people following the embarrassing defeat of its referendum on constitutional reform.

“I want this party to fight against populism and deliberate polarisation,” he said.

Signalling no shift in policy, Mr Harris confirmed Fine Gael as a “proudly pro-European party,” condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Mr Harris said nothing about the coalition government, which came into place at the end of 2020, but has previously said that he would remain fully committed to the programme for government agreed upon with partners Fianna Fail and the Green Party.