Leo and President pay tribute to leader
NICOLA Sturgeon announced she was quitting as Scottish first minister yesterday with her goal of another independence referendum unfulfilled and ongoing criticism of her drive to expand transgender rights.
Ms Sturgeon made the surprise announcement during a news conference at her official residence in Edinburgh, Bute House, saying the decision wasn’t a response to the ‘latest period of pressure’. But she added that part of serving well was knowing when to make way for someone else.
‘In my head and in my heart I know that time is now,’ she said. ‘That it’s right for me, for my party and my country.’
Ms Sturgeon, 52, has led Scotland since 2014, when Scots narrowly voted to remain part of the UK. While the referendum was billed as a once-ina-generation poll, Ms Sturgeon and her Scottish National Party have pushed for a new vote, arguing that Britain’s departure from the EU had changed the ground rules. The UK government has refused to allow a second referendum.
The first female leader of Scotland’s devolved government, Ms Sturgeon won praise for her calm, measured public communications during the pandemic – a contrast to the erratic messaging of then-UK prime minister Boris Johnson. She led
‘Certainly she will always be welcome at our table’
her party to dominance in Scottish politics but leaves office with the goal of her political life – independence – unrealised. She said she plans to remain in office until the SNP elects a new leader.
Leo Varadkar hailed Ms Sturgeon as a ‘true European’. The Taoiseach paid tribute to Ms Sturgeon in the Dáil shortly after she announced her decision to resign.
Mr Varadkar said the outgoing SNP leader had shown ‘huge commitment to her country’.
The Taoiseach said: ‘I met her many times in Dublin and also in the context of the BritishIrish Council, and I always found her to be an impressive, competent, articulate and thoughtful politician, a true European and a friend of Ireland, and certainly she will always be welcome at our table.’
He added: ‘I wish Nicola and her family the very best for the future.’
President Michael D Higgins hailed Ms Sturgeon’s ‘freshness and enthusiasm’, saying her contribution to public life had been recognised as a ‘particularly distinguished one’. He added: ‘This was exemplified in the leadership she displayed during the Covid-19 pandemic, when she communicated necessary reassurance with the sharing of practical measures that had to be taken.’