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The centrist Micheál Martin , leader of the Fianna Fáil party, has been sworn in as the new Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland, almost five months after Sinn Fein's historic - though insufficient - victory in the February 8 elections. Martin accedes to the position thanks to the coalition of Government with the Christian democrat Fine Gael of Leo Varadkar , who will alternate in power and return to occupy the position of 'taoiseach' in the middle of the legislature.

Sinn Féin's leader, Mary Lou McDonald , has denounced the government agreement as "a conspiracy to exclude the Republican party from power." In the face of losing power, the two major parties have sealed a marriage of convenience, "he assured. Mc Donald, winner of the elections with 24% of the votes, compared to 22% of Fianna Fáil and 21% of Fine Gael.

The government coalition and the majority in the Parliament of 160 deputies has been made possible in the end thanks to the support of the Green Party of Eamon Ryan , who has become the new arbiter of Irish politics thanks to the electoral impulse of young voters, the same that led the rise of Sinn Féin, who will serve as the main opposition party for the first time.

Micheál Martin, 59 years old, a former soldier and a former professor, was elected as the leader of Fianna Fáil in 2011 and since then was considered "waiting Prime Minister", in the traditional alternation of power between the two great parties, almost indistinguishable. In his acceptance speech he made a very direct reference to the pandemic, and curiously included the victims in Northern Ireland: "Today, 2,278 people have lost their lives on this island and many thousands are recovering. There is no part in this country that has not been touched by tragedy . And although we have made tremendous progress, the fight against the coronavirus is not over. "

Leo Varadkar, 41, of Indian descent and openly homosexual, witness to the profound social changes that the Republic of Ireland has gone through in the past three years ( from the gay marriage referendum to the legalization of abortion ) gladly gave up the helm knowing that he will recover it in two and a half years and despite having finished third in the elections.

"The political civil war in our country ended a long time ago, but the civil war in Parliament has ended today," said Varadkar, who has risen in numbers among his patriots for his leadership in the face of the pandemic, including his work as a volunteer doctor. "Two great parties join forces with another great party, the Green Party, to offer what we need: a stable government for a better country and a better world."

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