Members of the 30th Dáil and Ruairi Quinn (Lab). Following a vote, John O'Donoghue was elected to this position. The position of Taoiseach was contested by Bertie Ahern (FF) and Enda Kenny (FG). Following a vote Bertie Ahern was elected to this position, making it his third consecutive term in office. On 7 May 2008, Brian Cowen was elected Taoiseach in place of Ahern, who had resigned. Séamus Kirk was elected Ceann Comhairle on 13 October 2009 following the resignation of O'Donoghue. Government coalition parties are denoted by "●". This is a graphical comparison of party strengths in the 30th Dáil from January 2011, shortly
Taoiseach used for other countries' prime ministers (who are referred to in Irish as '). The Irish form, ', is sometimes used in English instead of "the Taoiseach". Outside of Ireland, the Taoiseach is sometimes referred to as the "Prime Minister of Ireland". Leo Varadkar TD is the current Taoiseach; he took office on 14 June 2017, following his election as leader of Fine Gael on 2 June 2017. Varadkar is the youngest Taoiseach in the history of the Irish state, having taken office at the age of 38, and the first openly LGBT person and the first person of Indian