{"id":149096,"date":"2025-11-19T23:21:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T23:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/149096\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T23:21:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T23:21:14","slug":"michael-d-higgins-irelands-ninth-president-review-early-career-makes-for-captivating-viewing-before-delving-into-the-cuddly-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/149096\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Michael D Higgins: Ireland\u2019s Ninth President\u2019 review: Early career makes for captivating viewing before delving into the \u2018cuddly\u2019 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nProfile of beloved president Michael D Higgins is at its best on his ferocious firebrand period\n<\/p>\n

The second half is just what you\u2019d expect: a dutiful trudge through Higgins\u2019 two seven-year terms in office.<\/p>\n

In 2011, the year of his first run at the \u00c1ras, the country was broke financially and broken in spirit. The IMF had come in and taken charge of getting our house in order.<\/p>\n

Coloured by this, the public\u2019s attitude to the upcoming presidential election seemed to be \u201canyone but a politician\u201d.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s generally accepted that what turned the tide against the favourite, businessman and Dragons\u2019 Den fixture Sean Gallagher, was The Frontline TV debate (the documentary skips over the specific reasons Gallagher\u2019s campaign imploded on the night).<\/p>\n

Former Labour leader Eamon Gilmore, however, disagrees that the debate was the turning point that landed Higgins an unexpected win. He claims the campaign was going better than the opinion poll figures had suggested.<\/p>\n

Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar feels Higgins\u2019 ability to rise above the squabbling among the other candidates during the debate was the pivotal factor. \u201cGravitas was a big part of it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Michael D\u00a0Higgins: Ireland\u2019s Ninth President<\/p>\n

We then get a brief, sometimes sketchy, history of Higgins\u2019 triumphs and controversies. His divisive comments about the EU and his impassioned attack on the Government\u2019s handling of the housing shortage \u2013 \u201cIt isn\u2019t a crisis anymore, it is a disaster\u201d \u2013 drew accusations that he\u2019d overstepped the limits of his office.<\/p>\n

His remarks following the death of Fidel Castro, who he called \u201ca giant among global leaders\u201d, attracted criticism from politicians and human rights groups.<\/p>\n

In contrast, Higgins won unanimous praise for the dignified way he presided over a period when Irish-British relations were better than they\u2019d ever been. He was exactly the kind of president the country needed at such a pivotal moment in history.<\/p>\n

While it suited the Government of the day to have Higgins in office for a second term, something he\u2019d previously said he wouldn\u2019t do, Mary Robinson says she would have encouraged him not to serve again.<\/p>\n

The documentary\u2019s first half, on the other hand, is sparkling stuff \u2013 loose and playful, and making brilliant use of archive footage, quotes and music<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople remember your words,\u201d she says. She also believes his refusal to attend a Northern Ireland centenary event in 2021 was a mistake.<\/p>\n

As worthy as all this is, it\u2019s a bit dull. The documentary\u2019s first half, on the other hand, is sparkling stuff \u2013 loose and playful, and making brilliant use of archive footage, quotes and music.<\/p>\n

This Michael D Higgins is not the cuddly, grandfatherly figure who inspired a line of crocheted tea cosies. It\u2019s the committed left-wing firebrand and social justice warrior \u2013 fierce, fearless, uncompromising and lethally witty \u2013 who stood out from the grey men of Irish politics.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The years as president meeting the Queen are less interesting. Photo: Justin Tallis – WPA Pool\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The clips are wonderful. The tone is set with Higgins on Nighthawks, telling the much-missed Shay Healy he was always a Stones man rather than a Beatles one. Cue a blast of Sympathy for the Devil. Then he\u2019s telling Anthony Clare about how, at a certain time in Ireland, to be described as an intellectual was like being called \u201ca sexual deviant\u201d.<\/p>\n

Next he\u2019s on The Late Late Show, ripping into an audience member for claiming all politicians are just in it for the votes \u2013 and having a go at Gaybo for propagating that line on his radio and TV shows.<\/p>\n

There he is in 1984, having visited El Salvador and witnessed the result of the US state-sponsored atrocities first-hand, leading the massive street protests against the visit of Ronald Reagan at the very moment the \u2018Gipper\u2019 was addressing the D\u00e1il.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

President Michael D Higgins will be succeeded by Catherine Connolly (Brian Lawless\/PA)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had remarkable resilience,\u201d says Hot Press editor Niall Stokes, who persuaded him to write a regular column.<\/p>\n

This was proved in Higgins\u2019 12-year quest to win a D\u00e1il seat, which he finally did in 1981.<\/p>\n

Away from the presidency, his greatest legacy stems from is time as Arts Minister. He spearheaded the creation of TG4 (previously Teilif\u00eds na Gaeilge), which many thought would fail, and re-established the Irish Film Board.<\/p>\n

Thanks to him, says Neil Jordan, \u201cthere\u2019s a film culture, an Irish film industry, that wasn\u2019t there before\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rating: Three stars<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Profile of beloved president Michael D Higgins is at its best on his ferocious firebrand period The second…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,977,43,9617],"class_list":["post-149096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-michael-d-higgins","tag-news","tag-pat-stacey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149096","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=149096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}