Leo Varadkar favourite for Taoiseach amid urges for Enda Kenny to step aside.

According to the Irish Independent, sources close to Mr Varadkar and Minister Simon Coveney said the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny should be given “six to eight weeks” to step aside as leader of the party.

Both Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney released statements to a meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party on Wednesday night, speaking about the need to be “election-ready”. This has been widely interpreted as a way of urging Mr Kenny to step aside.

Asked what he meant by this yesterday, Mr Varadkar, who came out as gay in advance of Ireland’s marriage referendum in 2015, said: “The events of this week show that the timeline for a general election is now shorter than we might have thought.

“The Taoiseach has said that he won’t lead us into the next general election but I’ve absolutely every confidence that he’ll know when the right time is for himself, the party and the country, to step aside.”

Mr Varadkar, who is currently the favourite to lead Fine Gael, also spoke about the Taoiseach in the past tense, saying he “has been a fabulous leader”.