{"id":100559,"date":"2025-10-24T02:36:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T02:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/100559\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T02:36:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T02:36:09","slug":"michael-d-higgins-hosts-final-tea-party-at-the-aras-as-misneach-prepares-for-new-home-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/100559\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael D Higgins hosts final tea party at the \u00c1ras as Misneach prepares for new home \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was an air of excitement around the Phoenix Park<\/a> yesterday as 100 guests lined up to meet the man who has called the \u00c1ras home for the last 14 years. <\/p>\n

Some of the members of public in attendance had simply written to President Michael D Higgins<\/a> asking if they could attend the final afternoon tea hosted by him and his wife Sabina<\/a>. They, along with representatives from various organisations, enjoyed the finely cut sandwiches and even finer china throughout the afternoon.<\/p>\n

One person \u201cdelighted\u201d to be there was \u00d3isin Large, from Wicklow. For the 27-year-old poet who wrote A Lament for Palestine, it was a \u201csurreal\u201d and \u201cpinch me moment\u201d to be welcomed into the \u00c1ras.<\/p>\n

Mr Large, who now lives in Berlin and works as an event manager for a cultural centre, wrote the poem over several months and it was later published in the Wicklow Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next thing I knew was that I was listening back to a voicemail on my phone from the President. I honestly thought someone was playing a joke on me when I listened back to it. But then he called me again and I knew it was real. He phoned me during the summer inviting me to attend his final afternoon tea gathering, so I\u2019ve been thinking about this for three months and I was so nervous walking in here today. I was blown away by the praise he gave me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PresidentPresident Higgins and his wife Sabina greet guests arriving for the final afternoon tea party at \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in. Photograph: Alan Betson <\/p>\n

Rosaleen McBride, a former chief executive chef who worked at the \u00c1ras when the late Patrick Hillery was president, also attended. Her niece, Aisling McBride, who now works as a household executive at \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in, admitted it was a \u201cvery proud day\u201d for her, her aunt and family to meet President Higgins and Sabina.<\/p>\n

A group of scientists from the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Galway who earlier this year helped discover a new planet<\/a> were also among the guests, along with representatives of the Inniskillings Museum in Enniskillen and Siptu trade union.<\/p>\n

\"PresidentPresident Higgins and his wife Sabina chat with guests at the final afternoon tea party of the President’s term of office. Photograph: Alan Betson <\/p>\n

In a speech, President Higgins said that as his term draws to a close, many events such as this over the past 14 years have been occasions to witness the \u201cmoral leadership and unstinting efforts\u201d of so many people throughout the country working towards the creation of a just and equal world.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past 14 years I have been constantly reminded that in spite of all the challenges we face, there remains within the Irish people a profound and unyielding commitment to seeing beyond the self, to seeing the \u2018other\u2019 as friend, the principles of generosity, compassion, kindness, decency and care for one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Scholar, poet, punk\u2019: How Michael D Higgins shaped the presidencyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

He said Irish society must always remember that there remains a capacity to bring the will of the public in advocating and achieving a more harmonious existence together, a will that can triumph.<\/p>\n

Adding that we live in a \u201cperilous period of time when democracy itself is under threat, recent comments from certain powerful figures suggest as though war and conflict are inevitabilities, that war is the natural expression of the human condition\u201d. He said such as belief is a \u201ctragic distortion\u201d and that war is not our \u201cnatural state as a species\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"PresidentPresident Higgins addresses guests at the final afternoon tea party of his term of office at \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in. Photograph: Alan Betson<\/p>\n

He said \u201cwords matter\u201d, and if we allow the \u201clanguage of inevitability\u201d, then we abandon the \u201cpossibilities of transformation, not just for ourselves but future generations. I think that we must always try to stay positive. There is hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind the niceties of his final afternoon tea gathering and as the sun sets on his two presidential terms, there is a family who have been moving their belongings back home to Rahoon in Galway since midsummer. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of work and it continues. What the President is most concerned about is how Misneach, who turned five last Monday, will handle the move. He came here when he was just a few weeks old so he will be going to a whole new environment. It will be change for them all,\u201d an official said.<\/p>\n

A colourful painting titled Sunburst, which greeted attendees as they entered the \u00c1ras, will also be moving. It is set to hang in the University of Galway concourse. <\/p>\n

President Higgins retains his position until November 10th, despite the country going to the polls on Friday to vote for the two candidates of Independent TD Catherine Connolly or former Fine Gael Minister Heather Humphreys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was an air of excitement around the Phoenix Park yesterday as 100 guests lined up to meet…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,977,43,29685,62379],"class_list":{"0":"post-100559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-michael-d-higgins","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-phoenix-park","13":"tag-sabina-higgins"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}