Local Minister Heather Humphreys has confirmed that she will not put her name forward for Fine Gael leadership or Taoiseach. The news now leaves Higher Education Minister Simon Harris as the clear frontrunner to be the next leader of Fine Gael as well as the next Taoiseach.
It's after a number of his colleagues - Simon Coveney, Paschal Donohoe, Helen McEntee and most recently Heather Humphreys all ruled themselves out. Nominations will officially close next Monday, with the result due on April 5th. The outgoing Taoiseach has been speaking to reporters in Brussels, where he's attending the European Council meeting of EU leaders for the final time.
Leo Varadkar says there wasn't any one reason for his decision to resign; "I have been coming to Brussels for nearly 14 years now without a break representing the country as a Minister and then as Taoiseach and Tánaiste, There comes a time when you need to move on and you need to make space for new people, new ideas and new energy and that's what I want to do."
