The Health Minister Leo Varadkar has come out as gay.

Mr Varadkar said while his personal life is generally off limits that his sexuality was "not a secret."

He is the fourth sitting TD to come out - but is the first openly gay Cabinet minister in Ireland.

Mr Varadkar said he had decided to disclose his sexuality within the last six months, but was wary that people would assume a political motive for his timing.

"I'm comfortable to talk about it now, wasn't always - but I have been for the last couple of years," he said.

Minister Varadkar's comments came as members of the marriage equality campaign launched their crowd-funding effort #ShareTheLove in PantiBar in Dublin this afternoon.

A referendum on the issue will be held in May.

LGBT rights campaigners at the launch welcomed the Minister's announcement:

Twitter reacts to Leo Varadkar's announcement

"It's not a big deal for me anymore, I hope it's not a big deal for anyone else - it shouldn't be," Minister Varadkar said during today's interview.

He also said he had only informed the Taoiseach this weekend - but Enda Kenny said he was already ahead of him as he had visited PantiBar in Dublin, which Mr Varadkar had not.

Speaking to Sunday With Miriam on RTÉ Radio One, Mr Varadkar said this does not define him.

He was appointed health minister in July 2014, after serving as transport minister from March 2011.

He was first elected to the Dáil as a TD for Dublin West in 2007.

Mr Varadkar turns 36 today.

Political commentator and columnist with the Irish Examiner, Gerard Howlin, told the Sunday Show here on Newstalk the fact the Mr Varadkar has officially come out shows how far Ireland has come, but how far we still have to go.

Newstalk.com's political editor Shane Coleman says there has been a positive reaction to the announcement.

While Michael Kelly, editor of the Irish Catholic, told Today FM Mr Varadkar's private life should not impact on the job he is doing.