Leo Varadkar was elected Irish Prime Minister on Wednesday, making the 38-year-old son of an Indian immigrant the once-staunchly Catholic country's first gay premier and the youngest person to hold the office.

Varadkar, who was nominated in parliament by departing prime minister Enda Kenny, won the votes of the independent lawmakers backing his Fine Gael party's minority government and secured the abstention of main opposition party Fianna Fail.

"As the country's youngest holder of this office, he speaks for a new generation of Irish women and Irish men, he represents a modern, diverse and inclusive Ireland and speaks for them like no other," Kenny told parliament ahead of the vote.