Micheál Martin has been elected taoiseach (Irish prime minister) at a special meeting of the Irish parliament in Dublin on Saturday.
The 59-year-old Cork native has been the leader of the Fianna Fáil party since 2011.
He will lead a three-party coalition consisting of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party.
It is the first time in history that former Civil War rivals Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have governed together.
Mr Martin was elected by the Dáil (Irish parliament) in a special sitting on Saturday at the Convention Centre Dublin, rather than at Leinster House, due to Covid-19 physical distancing rules.
During the vote, 93 members of the Dáil voted in favour of him taking the role, while 63 members voted against him.
The Irish electorate went to the polls in a general election in February but no party received a majority.
Coalition talks were then halted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The two larger parties needed the support of the Greens to have a working majority in the Irish parliament (the Dáil).
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The party leaders and their negotiating teams reached agreement on a coalition deal earlier in June.
Earlier, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: "Congratulations to Ireland on forming a new Government and to Micheal Martin TD on becoming Taoiseach. Ireland is our closest neighbour, good friend and ally on issues such as climate change, the global fight against Covid-19 and our shared values on human rights and democracy."
Analysis: BBC News NI Dublin Correspondent, Shane Harrison
Micheál Martin was the only Fianna Fáil leader in the party's history not to have served as taoiseach, but that changed today.
He will hold the role for 30 months before handing over to Leo Varadkar, the Fine Gael leader.
The two parties, both centrist, Fianna Fáil slightly to the left and Fine Gael to the right, have dominated the politics of the state since its foundation.
Although there has been little to separate them policy-wise for decades, their decision to share power in government for the first time is historic.
But it's also a political necessity for their leaders to keep Sinn Féin, the party that got the most votes in February's general election, away from government.
Sinn Féin has accused the two of using the Greens as a "fig leaf" to disguise their denial of the electorate's demand for change.
The three parties have five years to disprove those who claim the new coalition is simply a slightly greener version of business as usual in such areas as housing and dealing with climate change in a radical manner.
A meeting between Mr Martin and Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers, Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill, is likely in the coming days.
While there will be new faces, there will be some old problems to talk about such as Brexit and Covid-19.
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June 27, 2020 at 07:11PM
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