Junior minister Josepha Madigan had resigned her position and announced that she will not be contesting the next General Election.

The Dublin Rathdown representative is the 11th sitting Fine Gael TD to confirm that she will not be running for the next Government.

Her announcement comes after the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced his own resignation; however, he has yet to confirm whether he will stand next time around.

Announcing her decision this afternoon, Deputy Madigan also confirmed that she will be supporting Simon Harris in his bid to replace Mr Varadkar.

She said she informed the Taoiseach of he plans last summer and has not changed her mind since.

“Politics is not an easy profession but that does not mean it is not a rewarding one,” she said.

“I hope that people with strong hearts, resilience and courage will continue to enter public life to help better our country and its people.

“Over the last ten years I did all I could to achieve that objective.”

Minister Simon Harris at Dublin Castle, 29-8-18. Image: PA Images / Alamy

Meanwhile, Simon Harris is likely to be confirmed as the new Fine Gael leader this weekend.

The party’s National Council is meeting today and it is expected that the deadline for leadership nominations will be brought forward from Monday to Sunday.

It means Minister Harris will likely be unveiled as the party’s new leader at its planned European Parliament selection convention for the Midlands Northwest constituency.

He will then formally stand for election as taoiseach in the Dáil on April 9th following the Easter recess.