Michael D. Higgins
Presidential Candidate
I have a passionate belief in Ireland and its future and believe we are at a time of real transformation.
We now need to move past the failed speculative economics of recent years and open a new chapter in our shared story.
This chapter must be built on inclusion, creativity and an openess to new ideas, sharing our vulnerabilities and strengths and working together in imaginative ways.
The vision I am offering is an inclusive citizenship, where everyone participates and is respected, in a creative society, that combines the best of tradition with the spark of innovation, as part of a republic that makes us proud to be Irish in the world.
My own journey began on a small farm. I was a factory worker and clerk before becoming the first in my family to go to college. I have remained a passionate advocate for access to education and for many years. As a young lecturer in the Social Sciences, I travelled to towns across Ireland to bring outreach college courses to interested citizens everywhere.
It was in university that I found the language and the ideas to articulate the instinct for equality which I felt as a young man and which I believe each of us feels in our heart. This powerful symmetry between the heart and head has been a hallmark of my public life and my work for social justice.
I understand the concerns, hopes and fears that many students of Trinity College, a University which two of my own children attended, share as we face into an uncertain future and real economic difficulties. Yet, I also believe that the ingenuity, passion and intelligence of our student population can be a catalyst to challenge old systems and open up new ways of working together together.
Engaged citizens right across the country will be driving the transformation we need in our economy and society. As President I will be supporting that engagement and positive transformation in every way possible.
On a practical level this means listening to younger peoples voices. As President I will hold a series of Presidential seminars on key issues and have pledged that the first of these will focus on young people and their vision for Ireland. I will have respesentatives of all ages on the Council of State and ensure that any international representation actively include and promote emerging talent alongside established excellence. I will also shine a light on the vulnerable in our society, including those in Institutional care.
Everything I am offering in my vision is underpinned by a genuine understanding of the responsibilities, limits and possibilities of the office of President.
I offer a track record as an effective, innovative and commited public representative in Ireland and on the world stage. I campaigned, along with my wife Sabina, on many issues of progressive change in Irish society – equal pay for women, access to contraception, divorce, the rights of people with disabilities and many other important issues.
Internationally, I have represented Ireland on the European Council of Culture Ministers, as Foreign Affairs spokesperson and as advocate for peacebuilding and humanitarian causes from Nicaragua and Cambodia to Iraq, Somalia and Chile. I was awarded the first Seán McBride International Peace Prize in recognition of my work for human rights. As President I would deepen and strengthen every aspect of our international reputation.
As our first Minister for Arts Culture and the Gaeltacht in the 1990s, I made innovative and practical decisions which continue to benefit Ireland today. These include establishing a network of local arts venues across Ireland, opening Collins Barracks and the Chester Beatty Library, revitalising our waterways and introducing innovative measures to help transform Irish film from an €11million to a €186 million industry in just five years.
As President I would highlight the potential in creative industries from animation to sound design to artisan foods. I would also promote the fundamental importance of creativity in our communities, in our education system, in our international diplomacy. These are all areas in which you as a new generation of students will be shaping the change and setting the agenda.
If elected as your President, I will, alongside my wife Sabina, dedicate my experience and my passion, my head and my heart, to working with you to make Ireland a republic we can all feel part of and proud of.
