Micheál Martin has called for new bridges to be built across society as he gave his final speech in the Dáil as Taoiseach.
He was speaking during a special sitting of the Dáil after tendering his resignation as Taoiseach to President Michael D Higgins.
In his speech, Mr Martin urged the defence of democracy amid rising populism. He expressed concern about the tone of political discourse in recent years, saying that we "unfortunately live in an increasingly polarised world".
"The great generation which secured our independence did not subscribe to an inflexible view of Irishness or our ambitions," Mr Martin said.
We built "a republic where the nation was defined as inclusive of different traditions", and "which sought friendship and cooperation with others" and "demanded that all who served in its name do so with honour".
"If we genuinely believe in an Ireland which includes and serves all, then we must be prepared to build new bridges. We must be prepared to reach across divides and to do the hard work of learning to understand and respect each other far more than we have in the past.
"We must stop making assumptions about each other and get to know each other," he added.
Mr Martin also delivered a robust defence of the European Union during his speech and also sharply condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
He paid tribute to Irish people who have welcomed thousands of Ukrainian refugees to Ireland.
"The resolve of the Ukrainian people has been an inspiration as has been the generosity of the Irish people in supporting them," he said.
"This appalling war is the fault of one man, his government and an ideology which seeks to destroy the very possibility of free democracy."
The Dáil earlier voted to elect Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach, who then travelled to Áras an Uachtaráin to be appointed by President Higgins.
As the shape of the new Cabinet began to emerge this evening, Mr Martin was announced as being appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Coalition is out of touch and out of ideas, says Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald criticised the Government's record and opposed the nomination of Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach in the Dáil.
She said the resignation of Mr Martin should trigger a general election as she accused the coalition of being "out of touch, out of ideas and out of time".
"To dress up your failures as progress, is to insult ordinary people who live with the consequences of those failures," she said.
Speaking in the Dáil this evening, Ms McDonald said the housing crisis has become an emergency.
She said, of all its failures, the Government's failing in housing is the most inexcuable, and it is a tragedy.
Ms McDonald said 25 years on from the Good Friday Agreement it is time to write the next chapter and prepare for democratic constitutional change.
She said it is time to give Sinn Féin "a chance to show what we can do".
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Meanwhile, Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said that they cannot support a Cabinet which offers no change, not even in the gender balance.
"This Government has failed to deliver" on housing, climate and child poverty, she said.
Ms Bacik called for more State action on childcare, and the roll-out of free GP care for children.
Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall (below) said Mr Varadkar "has desperately sought to evade responsibility for the housing disaster".
"The overwhelming evidence" is that the Government's housing plan "is simply not working".
"Saying you'll do 'whatever it takes' is simply not a policy," she said.
Richard Boyd-Barrett of Solidarity-PBP said that one in five citizens are at risk of poverty, and 3,400 children will spend Christmas in emergency accommodation.
Amid a "shocking level of homelessness" and deprivation, with people subsisting on "pitiful incomes", corporate profits continue to soar, he said.
Mr Boyd-Barrett said that the coalition has delivered "a society for the few" while the many struggle, the deputy added.
Regional Independent TD Michael Lowry said that he is "here to endorse this historic event" as the office of Taoiseach rotates, and shows that "nothing is impossible".
He said that the country is facing "dangerous times" and the Government has experience dealing with these challenges.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín recounted "a litany of disasters", which he said Mr Varadkar has overseen during his time in Government.
Pointing to housing and health, crime and relations with Northern Ireland, he emphasised his party's opposition to the nomination of Mr Varadkar as Taoiseach.
Rural Independent TD Mattie McGrath said that the change of Taoiseach was like Lanigan's Ball, "And I stepped out - and I stepped in again".
Opposing the nomination of Mr Varadkar as Taoiseach, he accused him of being "a young gloabalist leader" who is trying "to destroy the power of democracy".
