Irish president visits London in his first foreign trip

It seems fitting that the man who was Ireland’s first minister for culture, should spend his three days in London visiting the theatre and the Olympic Park.

But a seasoned politician of three decades, and a former professor of political science, he will also giving a lecture on Tuesday evening at the London School of Economics on ‘Public Intellectuals, Universities and a Democratic Crisis’.

Known for his poetry, as much as his politics, Michael D emerged victorious from Ireland’s presidential elections last November, winning a record 40 per cent of the vote. And despite mumblings about his age – he was 70-years-old while running his campaign, and there were more than a few reports about his ailing knees – he is looked upon fondly for his contributions to Irish society, his politics, and his passion for human rights.

Born in Limerick and raised in County Clare, Mr Higgins was brought up in hardship and struggled to finished school.

However he went on to study sociology at the University College Galway, where he was also president of the Students’ Union, and became a lecturer in the department of political science and sociology at the institution before resigning to concentrate fully on his political career.

Early political involvement

As a university student, Higgins joined the republican party, Fianna Fail, before switching to the Labour Party shortly after finishing his studies. He stood in two general elections in 1969 and 1973 but was unsuccessful on both occasions. In 1981, he was elected to the Dail only to lose two years later – but he was re-elected to his Galway West seat in 1987 where he stayed in place until the general election in 2011.

In the 1990s, as Ireland’s minister for arts and culture, he scrapped the controversial section 31 of the broadcasting act, which gave the government the right to veto material which it believed promoted terrorism, or ideological violence – and was also used to prevent the broadcast of Sinn Fein members’ voices.

He also re-established the Irish Film Board and set up the first Irish language television station TG4, which led the way in the resurgence of spoken Gaelic throughout the island, and wrote a column in Hotpress magazine for years.

Human rights champion

During his political career, he was one of the leading voices in the campaign against the Iraq War in 2003. He is a champion of human rights and has written about conflicts around the world, including in Chile and Cambodia. In recognition of his work in this field, he became the first recipient of the Sean MacBride Peace Prize in 1992.

Higgins was selected as a candidate for the presidency in June 2011, at a special convention in Dublin and was inaugurated in November last year after winning a larger proportion of the vote than any other Irish candidate in the history of the republic.

Away from politics, Michael D Higgins has published three volumes of poetry including The Betrayal, The Season of Fire and An Arid Season. He is married to actress Sabina Higgins, formerly Sabina Coyle, with whom he has four children.