![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/b8a26474-542d-4cbb-aeb5-0690a422aadf.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAsked about what he would like to see in the incoming president, he said he won\u2019t comment on the \u201cforthcoming events\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I know is that I’ll do my best to have the place looking alright,\u201d he told RT\u00c9 Radio One\u2019s Second Captains Saturday this afternoon.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
President Michael D Higgins (Liam McBurney\/PA)<\/p>\n
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – August 23rd<\/p>\n
After his \u201cgreat move\u201d from \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in, as he described it, President Higgins (84) confirmed he will live in Rahoon, Co Galway.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I’m hearing talks about boxes and skips and books and everything. I’m very much looking forward, I’m going to be living in Rahoon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are projects I’m continuing abroad, as well as at home, and I do think I will run a few significant things that I haven’t really got to deal with that I want to put more on, and that is in relation to the elimination of violence against women.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also want to do a few more things, because all my life, I have been meeting the travellers and so forth, and I will probably do something. So there are a number of pieces that I have to finish before we go for the inauguration of my successor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking about the next chapter of his life after the presidency, he is looking forward to spending time with his two grandchildren, Finn (2) and Fiadh (4).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is marvellous that Sabina and I have both been public figures all our lives. I’m very much looking forward to spending some time with our two grandchildren,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve got all these books that [were] left aside to come back to, so I won’t be stuck for something to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The President also opened up about the stroke he suffered on February 29 last year, after which he spent eight days in hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I had very good treatment from the physios and from everyone, so I didn’t cancel anything. So I can assure you I’m not flying up and down the steps to the same speed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also used sticks, because the stroke was on my left side, and it is mostly all back, but my balance is risky,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
He also spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, describing this period as \u201ctragic\u201d.<\/p>\n
While opening the Fleadh Cheoil festival in Wexford three weeks ago, the President said: \u201cI cannot really stand in a public venue and give a public speech and speak about our language, when I see such an incredible destruction of an entire people taking place.<\/p>\n
“Are we to watch children starving? Women dehydrated trying to feed their children. So something must happen,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n
“The interview I gave at the opening of the Fleadh has now [been] carried on Al Jazeera, and it has been on Iranian television and Turkish television. And I got two letters yesterday from the Institute for Arab Studies in Paris.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m a member of a group of non-executive presidents called Arraiolos, and I resent a letter to them, [saying:] \u2018This is not a time for silence and so forth\u2019. And among the people who replied to me is President Mattarella of Italy. And he said: \u2018Would I have a go at drafting a statement?\u2019. And I had a go at it, so I’m leaving it, and I’m waiting for the response to that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe realm of unaccountability is the most dangerous threat to democracy.<\/p>\n
“The main thing is, I think, for a global reassertion of the importance of the General Assembly. And I have been outlining recently how in the charter, there is a mechanism called chapter seven, where, if a certain proportion of the General Assembly supported, even if the Security Council uses the veto to block it, the Secretary General can call for a force to be put together to guarantee humanitarian access with United Nations\u2019 support.<\/p>\n
“And that’s what’s in the letter that I have sent to my colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Asked about what he would like to see in the incoming president, he said he won\u2019t comment on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[7699,18,117,19,17,1874],"class_list":{"0":"post-19410","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-adrianna-wrona","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-michael-d-higgins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}