The people of Ireland will ‘probably regret’ Michael D Higgins’ term of office in the fullness of time, a politics expert has predicted.
President Higgins’ time Uachtarán na hÉireann comes to an end today after 14 years in office.
He and his wife, Sabina, plan to return to Galway where they lived for most of their married life.
On Newstalk Breakfast, DCU lecturer Eoin O’Malley said history will remember him as a Head of State who was “very popular” but also potentially changed the job forever.
“He’ll be known as one who pushed the boundaries, possibly too far, going into politics,” Mr O’Malley said.
“So, he set a precedent for the office where the President of Ireland is now not just somebody who stands above politics but actively gets involved in politics.
“That probably will be something we come to regret because he’s fundamentally changed the nature of the office.”
Michael D. Higgins at the State Apartments in Dublin Castle for his second inauguration. Picture by: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie. Mr O’Malley added that he expects Catherine Connolly will do likewise, although he admitted that at the moment most people seem to be “pretty unconcerned” about a President who gets involved in politics.
“I think people will be concerned when suddenly they have a President with a popular mandate who doesn’t agree with them,” he said.
“So, when their politics are a little bit further to the right, they might be a little bit concerned about the President getting involved in politics.
“I think also, we might be concerned that the Government should be able to run its own foreign policy without having to worry about what the President is going to say.”
Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys during the Presidential Election. Also on the programme, former Labour advisor Fergus Finlay agreed that Mr Higgins will be remembered as a “much loved President”.
He also admitted that as President he “did push the boundaries now and again” but not to an unconstitutional degree.
“There was never an issue that I can remember where he was on one side of the argument and the Government clearly on the other side of an argument,” he said.
“I think there were occasions when the Government felt criticised - particularly over things like housing.
“And my God was the criticism warranted.”
Mr Finlay added that both Mr Higgins and Ms Connolly are fully aware of the constitutional boundaries of the job and know the people of Ireland “wouldn’t stand” for the Áras becoming an alternative centre of power to Government Buildings.
Main image: President Michael D. Higgins. Picture by: DPPA/Sipa USA.
