Ireland's new leader Leo Varadkar is at 38 years old, the youngest in the republic's history; he's the son of an Irish mum and Indian immigrant dad; and he's openly gay in a country that decriminalized homosexuality only 24 years ago.

"As our youngest Taoiseach, he represents a modern, diverse and inclusive Ireland and speaks for them like no other," said outgoing Taoiseach Enda Kenny as he passed the leadership of the ruling Fine Gael party to Mr. Varadkar.  But while international media outlets obsessed on his personal story, it's his center-right policies that are up for debate in Ireland.

"The Government I lead will not be of the left or the right, because those old divisions don't comprehend the political challenges of today," Varadkar said in his first speech in the Dail as Taoiseach.  "So the government that I lead will be one of the new European center as we seek to build a 'Republic of Opportunity', and that is a republic in which every citizen gets a fair go and has the opportunity to succeed and in which every part of the country has the chance to share in our prosperity."

Leo Varadkar

Some worry about if "Leo-Liberal" prosperity will reach all.  Well-liked by the other party leaders (he even used to do pilates with Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams), Varadkar is seen as a neo-liberal in the vain of Margaret Thatcher who mixes free markets with more Liberal social views on abortion and sp,e other such issues.

"We wish him the best and we will work politely with him but we cannot vote for him," said Greens leader Eamon Ryan.  "He is too right wing.  Despite all the pilates, frappuccinos, skinny lattes, avocado mash and jogging, there is not a scintilla of green in him."

Center-right Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin warned that popular demographic labels could be an albatross.  "The very definition of the job of Taoiseach and the Government is to represent all of the people," Martin warned, "It is not about picking winners and losers or finding new labels to divide people.  It is about representing every citizen."

Similarly, Left-wing populist People Before Profit party TD Richard Boyd Barrett wasn't impressed with the fanfare.  "People want hope not hype, policies not pantomime," he said, pointing across the Irish Sea to last week's dark horse performance by UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.  "(Voters) were not the issues the media were talking about, nor those with which the bubble was concerned.  They were issues such as housing, health, education, equality, and tax fairness."