Leo Varadkar has formally tendered his resignation as Taoiseach to President Michael D Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin.
Mr Varadkar spent 45 minutes at the Áras this evening. He first met President Higgins in his study and signed his official letter of resignation.
Afterwards, he had a conversation with the President and he was then joined by the President's wife, Sabina.
Mr Varadkar left the Áras with a delegation from the Department of the Taoiseach at 6.40pm, having arrived at 5.55pm.
He waved at the media before departing but he did not comment. He remains acting Taoiseach until he is succeeded by Simon Harris tomorrow afternoon.
Earlier, Mr Varadkar spoke to RTÉ's Six One News before departing for Áras an Uachtaráin.
He said being Taoiseach was one high point in his political career, but others included leading the country during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said that meant saving a lot of lives, jobs and businesses.
"It's widely accepted that Ireland outperformed most other countries when it came to the management of the pandemic," he said.
"Also the economic situation, we’ve full employment, a budget surplus. That’s the envy of Europe and the envy of the world."
He said he was also proud of making Ireland a more modern place, with greater equality for women, LGBT people and other minority groups.
"I don't claim personal credit for any of these things but having had a significant role to play is something that I am proud of," Mr Varadkar said.
He said you come to realise when you hold high office that there are always problems and challenges.
"You're never going to wake up and find that your desk is empty because everything has been fixed.
"If there's regret, it would be excessive caution at certain points. In 2011-2012, we never thought the economy would bounce back so quickly from the crash.
"When the pandemic happened, we never thought that the economy would bounce back so quickly, and because of that there were big investment decisions and spending decisions, that we could have made a year or two earlier that would put us in a better position today when it comes to things like housing, but unfortunately, that was the advice at the time and we took it.
"It's easy with hindsight to know these things, we didn't know at the time."
Asked how today feels for him leaving office, he said it was "pretty good" but it was a difficult decision to make.
"It was difficult to go through with it on the day, but definitely since then I've had no regrets."
He said that he was looking forward to a different chapter in his life, still being a TD and working hard on canvassing with other candidates for the local and European elections.
Mr Varadkar said he would take some time off over the summer and have a good break, and he would decide if he will run again during that time.
"I haven't taken more than two consecutive weeks off since 1996."
He added that society had changed in 20 years, and people are less polite and are encouraged to be angry.
"Anger is celebrated in a way that it wasn't in the past. I have to say that those issues on social media, that was never a big thing for me because I'm thick skinned and I was able to block it out most of the time."
He said politics is a tough job, adding that anyone who puts themselves out there in terms of on posters or calling unannounced at peoples' doors is going to get a certain amount of abuse.
Despite this he said that he loves politics, still does, and would encourage people to get involved.
"You get to see things you'd never get to see, meet people you'd never get to meet, go places you'd never get to go and get to make real decisions that make a big difference in peoples' lives.
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Being Taoiseach is 'rewarding'
"I would say to people it is a tough job but it's so rewarding as well, I'd encourage people to go for election."
Mr Varadkar said it was "almost impossible" to prepare for being Taoiseach and that you pretty much become a different person.
"The hopes and fears of 5.3 million people are on your shoulders."
He added that what he told Simon Harris was to trust himself, take advice widely, but trust your gut instincts and you own intuition.
Regarding his own future, Mr Varadkar said that he had nothing lined up, but he got a few interesting offers. He said he would explore this over the summer period when he takes a break.
In terms of his lifestyle, he said that he hoped to go to the gym more, eat and sleep better, which he was looking forward to.
Earlier today, Mr Varadkar visited Northern Ireland for a meeting of cross-border ministers as his final engagement.
Harris poised for Taoiseach
Mr Harris is poised to take over as Taoiseach following a Dáil vote tomorrow and will appoint his Cabinet later that day.
Mr Harris's elevation to Taoiseach will leave the Minister for Further and Higher Education post vacant, while the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment role will also need to be filled following Simon Coveney's announcement that he was stepping down.
Fine Gael TDs Peter Burke and Jennifer Carroll MacNeill remain the most likely to gain promotion to Cabinet.
It seems the prominent junior ministerial post of European Affairs will be expanded to include areas with a domestic focus such as migration.
It is likely the enhanced role will focus primarily on communicating EU policy issues, such as immigration, to a domestic audience.
However, Government sources point out that while the EU Affairs post might be given more prominence, responsibility for immigration will remain with the Departments of Justice and Equality.
This looks likely to go to someone in the administration in whom the incoming Taoiseach places much trust and believes is under utilised in their current role.
Two more Independent TDs, Cathal Berry and Peter Fitzpatrick, have confirmed they will vote to elect him Taoiseach.
That appears to bring to 87 the number of TDs expected to vote for Mr Harris, the same number of votes as Mr Varadkar received in December 2022.
Additional reporting Micheál Lehane
