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<\/p>\nLATEST\u00a0|\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Higgins has just two weeks left at \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in before handing over to Catherine Connolly on November 11.\n<\/p>\n
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President Michael D Higgins speaking during his final afternoon tea event before he leaves office, at Aras an Uachtarain in Dublin last Wednesday. Pic: Niall Carson\/PA Wire<\/p>\n
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President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina cast their votes in the Presidential Election on Friday October 24, 2025. PA Photo. Pic Niall Carson\/PA Wire<\/p>\n
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MD<\/p>\n
President Michael D Higgins has spent a second night in hospital after starting antibiotic treatment for a localised infection.<\/p>\n
A statement from his office yesterday said doctors have noticed a \u201csignificant improvement\u201d in his condition since he was admitted to St James’s Hospital by arrangement on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe President has commenced a course of antibiotics to treat the infection,\u201d the \u00c1ras said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe President\u2019s medical team have noted a significant improvement since the commencement of the antibiotics and, in line with their advice, the President has agreed to remain in hospital to continue the course of antibiotics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe President, who is in good spirits, remained in hospital overnight to receive antibiotics.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is understood there are no significant concerns about the infection.<\/p>\n
Doctors will decide at a later date when the President is fit to be discharged and return home to the Phoenix Park. <\/p>\n
The 84-year-old\u2019s second and final term is due to end on November 10.<\/p>\n
He has exactly two weeks left in \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in before Catherine Connolly is sworn in as country\u2019s tenth president.<\/p>\n
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President Michael D Higgins speaking during his final afternoon tea event before he leaves office, at Aras an Uachtarain in Dublin last Wednesday. Pic: Niall Carson\/PA Wire<\/p>\n
News in 90 Seconds \u2013 October 27th 2025 <\/p>\n
Mr Higgins has had a number of health issues in recent years but has continued to carry out his duties.<\/p>\n
He spent several days in hospital last year after suffering a stroke.<\/p>\n
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President Michael D Higgins speaking during his final afternoon tea event before he leaves office, at Aras an Uachtarain in Dublin last Wednesday. Pic: Niall Carson\/PA Wire<\/p>\n
Since then he has had some \u201cbalance problems\u201d and occasionally used two sticks in public.<\/p>\n
The stroke had affected his left side, including his hand and hip, and had exacerbated problems with his lower back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had no affect on me cognitively. I spent a week in hospital and I didn’t cancel anything,” he said afterwards.<\/p>\n
On Saturday night, Mr Higgins issued a statement congratulating his successor and offering the full support of his office as Ms Connolly prepares for her inauguration on November 11.<\/p>\n
He said: “I have this evening spoken by telephone with the president-elect, Catherine Connolly. I congratulated the president-elect on her election as the tenth President of Ireland on what is a momentous day for her and her family.<\/p>\n
“The president-elect will have the full support of this office as she prepares for her inauguration next month.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LATEST\u00a0|\u00a0 Mr Higgins has just two weeks left at \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in before handing over to Catherine Connolly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,3477,977,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-108346","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-kevin-doyle","10":"tag-michael-d-higgins","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108346","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=108346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}