Leo Varadkar

“What I would like to build is a new centre, a wider, broader centre, which would encompass a lot of different philosophies - you know, the philosophy that I'm putting forward that is a market liberal philosophy and a socially liberal philosophy but would have room in it for a broader church than that.”

“I always think that friends and family are off-bounds. I went into politics; they didn't.”

“What I see around the world are movements around people like Macron in France and Trudeau in Canada.”

“I know when my father travelled 5,000 miles to make his home in Ireland, I doubt he ever dreamed that his son would one day grow up to be its leader.”

“Fine Gael needs to be Fine Gael and needs to stand its ground. It should not sacrifice its politics for position in government.”

“I've realised that doctors can only help change a certain number of patients, but a Minister of Health can really change things.”

“There are a lot of people who want to retain the Eighth Amendment - I don't agree with that view myself - there are others who want to remove it, but when you ask them what that means, they aren't able to tell you.”

“Marriage in our Constitution is very clear that it's a man marrying a woman, largely with a view to having a natural family, and if they are unable to do that, obviously then they can adopt.”

“We really need to come behind and press for marriage equality in Northern Ireland.”

“My difficulty with the whole right-left construct is that I don't think it describes modern politics or the modern choices that people face in the world.”

“Often, the people who speak loudest about republican values are the least when it comes to honouring them.”

“We can't have a government that will collapse in three months.”

“When a hospital is very crowded, there will be a real push to make sure people get their X-rays, get their tests and, you know, 'Let's get them out in four days'.”

“I consider myself pro-life, as I accept that the unborn is a human life with rights, and I do not support abortion on request or on demand.”

“Around the world, people look to Ireland as a country where it doesn't matter where you come from but where you want to go.”

“People travel overseas to do things overseas that aren't legal in Ireland all the time. You know, are we going to stop people going to Las Vegas? Are we going to stop people going to Amsterdam? There are things that are illegal in Ireland, and we don't prevent people from travelling overseas to avail of them.”

“I have enormous respect for people who come from a strong family background in Fine Gael.”

“What I am interested in are the philosophies of the future. That's what drives me.”

“I don't think my election as Taoiseach actually made history - it just reflected it, reflected the enormous changes that had already occurred in our country.”

“What I would rather see, what I think would be the best outcome, is a very close relationship between the United Kingdom and the E.U.”