Leo Varadkar did the right and brave thing for himself and the country by stepping down when he came to the conclusion that he had nothing left to give. His frank admission to the Irish public that after seven years in the Taoiseach’s office he was no longer the best person for the job was astonishing in its honesty.

It is one of the truisms of politics that leaders never know when it is time to go. Outside of elections they usually have to be dragged kicking and screaming from office long after they have become a liability.

Acknowledging that somebody else would do a better job is not in a leader’s DNA so Varadkar’s decision to step down, and the reasons he gave for it, represented a refreshing burst of humility which can only be good for Irish politics in the longer term.

The downside of politics was on display in much of the response to Varadkar’s decision, with the focus of the Opposition and much of the media on the failures and mistakes of his time at the top with little or no reference to his undoubted achievements.

It should be acknowledged that those achievements were considerable. Varadkar’s handling of the Brexit negotiations was a master class in hard-nosed diplomacy. It delivered the outcome the country needed but which few people........

© The Irish Times