On April 9, local time, the Irish Parliament confirmed by vote that Simon Harris, the leader of the Unity Party, will be the new Prime Minister of Ireland.
The 37-year-old became Ireland's youngest-ever prime minister, and while his standing out was somewhat unexpected, his colleagues said he had not been unprepared to quickly succeed Leo Varadkar, who had previously resigned unexpectedly.
It's not an exaggeration to say that Harris's political career did begin early, getting involved in local politics for the first time at the age of 15, when he founded the North Wicklow Triple League to help families of children with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit disorder. As a junior high school student, he lobbied politicians to provide better facilities for children with such disabilities to be integrated into mainstream education.
Harris made headlines in Wicklow County newspapers at the age of 16 for criticizing the government, when he was described as "a well-known local activist."
Interestingly, Harris was also a college dropout, although, unlike Mark Zuckerberg, he dropped out to enter politics.
He was elected to parliament at the age of 22 and became a member of the Cabinet before the age of 30, being appointed Minister of Health in the Cabinet and making a name for himself for helping to steer Ireland through the 'pandemic'. He also prevented a large-scale strike of health care workers.
However, Harris's tenure as health secretary was controversial, and he was accused of "hypocrisy" after angering some medical authorities over the ownership of a hospital.
However, these events did not seem to have affected him, and he continued to work well in Irish politics, and was elected leader of the Unionist Party after Varadkar's resignation, thus gaining the post of prime minister.
Harris is known for his use of social media, and he is particularly fond of TikTok, and now nicknamed the "TikTok Prime Minister" by young Irish people, it can be seen that he is also a veritable "influencer" Prime Minister
As early as his time as health secretary, Harris had amassed a legion of followers, with young people finding him more casual and communicative, "saying things we can understand and be willing to take."
During her tenure as health secretary, Harris married Choimh Wade, a nurse in the cardiology unit, and they had a son and a daughter during their seven-year marriage.
Although Harris is somewhat of a "son of the sky", he is not healthy himself, suffering from Crohn's disease, known as the "green cancer", an inflammatory disease of the intestines of unknown cause. Harris has opened up about his illness, but has also said that it has little impact on his daily life.
Finally, Harris's predecessor, Varadka, 45, was also a politician with a personal touch.
At the age of 38, he was elected the youngest Prime Minister of Ireland at the time, and he was the first mixed-race Prime Minister of Ireland, whose father was of Indian origin. Not only that, but Varadka also has a long-term boyfriend, doctor Matthew Barrett.