Time’s on Leo’s side as he makes the top 100 most inf luential list

LEO Varadkar has been named as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2018.

The Taoiseach is listed alongside fellow world leaders Donald Trump, Kim Jong-un and Emmanuel Macron, as well as the royal couple Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, and pop culture figures including Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Lopez and Rihanna.

The list includes notable figures from the worlds of politics, sport, film and social movements.

Regarding the Taoiseach, Time said: ‘When Ireland finally decriminalised homosexuality in 1993, the Catholic Church still had a firm grip on the State’s affairs. Divorce was illegal, and its abortion laws were deeply entrenched as some of the most conservative in the West. Twenty-five years on, Ireland is a very different place – symbolised by the rise of its new leader, Leo Varadkar.

‘The openly gay son of an Indian immigrant, Varadkar decided to come out publicly in the run-up to the world’s first marriage-equality referendum. Today, the once anti-abortion politician is campaigning to significantly liberalise the country’s abortion laws.’

Time explained the reasons behind this year’s selections, saying it isn’t a measure of power, nor is it a collection of milestones accumulated.

‘Time’s annual list of the world’s most influential people is a designation of individuals whose time, in our estimation, is now,’ the magazine wrote.

‘Editorial director Dan Macsai, maestro of the Time 100, brings us back to the key question: was this their year?’

Time also spoke of the Taoiseach’s role as an influential player in negotiations on Brexit – and said Britain’s exit from the EU ‘could have a devastating impact on Ireland’s peace and prosperity’.

It also mentioned the current major housing and homelessness crisis that Mr Varadkar is facing. ‘The country’s youngest-ever Taoiseach will be judged on how he guides his nation through these challenges,’ it added.