Michael D. Higgins
Michael D. Higgins | |
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9th President of Ireland
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Incumbent | |
Assumed office 11 November 2011 | |
Preceded by | Mary McAleese |
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Born | 18 April 1941 |
Michael Daniel Higgins (b. 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician and poet who has served as ninth President of Ireland since 2011.
Career
Higgins was appointed in 1973 to the Ireland's upper legislative chamber the Seanad by then-Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave.
In 1990, Higgins published a book The Betrayal, a collection of his poetic writings.
Higgins published his second book of poems, The Season of Fire, in 1993.
A third collection of Higgins's poems, An Arid Season, was published in 2004.
Higgins won the 2011 Irish presidential election with just over 1 million votes (57%). This was the biggest margin of victory in the history of the republic.
Higgins compared the possible takeover of Twitter by libertarian billionaire Elon Musk to "a form of dictatorship" on 22 May 2022.[1]
On 5 February 2023, Michael D. Higgins lashed out at Irish people protesting against mass-immigration, claiming that they were "showing hate".[2]