Former tánaiste Simon Coveney has announced that he will not stand in the next general election.
The 52-year-old Cork South Central TD was first elected to the Dáil in a by-election in 1998.
He had served as minister for agriculture and minister for foreign affairs and most recently as minister for enterprise.
When Simon Harris was appointed Taoiseach earlier this year, Mr Coveney announced that he did not want to continue in the Cabinet in order to allow the new Fine Gael leader pick new ministers.
This was taken as a clear signal that his time in the Dáil was drawing to a close.
This morning he said it was time to step out of politics and seek new horizons.
Mr Coveney said it had been an extraordinary privilege to serve his constituency for 26 years.
He said the future is bright for Fine Gael and Mr Harris had reinvigorated the party.
'Knowing when to leave'
Speaking on RTÉ's News At One, Mr Coveney said one of the challenges of being in a leadership position "is knowing when to leave".
He said he has been in politics his entire working life and has held many positions "that I could never have dreamt of", including becoming Tánaiste for nearly three years.
He said that when there was a leadership change in Fine Gael he had made his mind up "quite some time ago" that he would not contest for leadership again.
"It was very clear to me that Fine Gael needed renewal, needed new faces, new talent coming through... what Simon Harris is doing for the party - to re-energise it, to freshen it up, to bring through new people, new faces, new voices, new ideas - that's the right thing to do," he said.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Read more: Coveney stepping back after 26 years in politics
"For me, in that context, it made sense not to make myself available to be a pick for the Cabinet a few months ago and I think it makes sense now, given the talent in my own constituency, for me to give someone else a chance."
Mr Coveney said recent departures from the party are "a positive thing" and that the candidates waiting to replace them are "ambitious, smart and motivated".
He said that in order to be successful at the next election Fine Gael needs to show that it is "evolving and changing with society", which he said Simon Harris had done "a great job" at facilitating.
He said there were at least six people who had expressed an interest in running for Fine Gael in Cork South Central, adding that he had "made a point of not picking sides".
"We have, in my constituency, tried to encourage talent and competition to come through and it's fantastic that they all came through in the local elections," he said.
"It'll be a really competitive convention in two weeks' time and may the best team emerge. I think whether we go with two candidates or three candidates we'll have a very competitive team in a five-seater in a few months time."
When asked what his plans for the future were, Mr Coveney said he had "some options that are unfolding" but that he was not going to rush into anything.
He said that for now he wants to be a good backbench TD running a good constituency office in Cork South Central "and helping to prepare for a general election".
'Not just a colleague, he is a friend' - Taoiseach
Taoiseach Simon Harris paid tribute to Mr Coveney saying he is "not just a colleague, he is a friend".
Mr Harris added: "He leaves an outstanding footprint in Irish politics. I think we can all agree Simon's role during Brexit will be his legacy.
"It was his greatest contribution in politics and of immense importance to this country."
From the Archives: Simon Coveney wins 1998 Cork South Central by-election
