Three cheers for our President! – a rock of sense in a sea of clowns
I’VE had a feeling lately that we’re heading back to where we were before.
Not the rosy, sit on a fence, chat with your neighbour, Ireland of old, but the snarly toothed Celtic Tiger era that drove us mad with jealousy, competitiveness, meanness of spirit and shots at the bar, (well some of us anyway). Those days rightly still scare the bejaysus out of us because prices were rising and we’d lost the run of ourselves. The wine flowed and the party was neverending, to mangle the poetic words of the French poet Rimbaud. But the party did end and we must be careful not to run away with ourselves in these heady times.
One man who has kept a level head while all around him were losing theirs is our President Michael D Higgins. From strong social campaigning roots, President Higgins has led by example ever since he took office in November 2011, having been elected after an election battle with Sean Gallagher. The talented politician, poet, sociologist, author and broadcaster, seemed to somehow encapsulate all that is Irish in one human form.
Firey, up for a scrap, witty and found of a verse, Higgins had it all.
He even, now famously, told off an American radio host in a heated interview in 2010, to ‘ be proud to be a decent American rather just a wanker whipping up fear’.
Our President was (and still is) derided in some quarters for not being of a mighty stature, but he has more than proven his mettle and stature since taking office.
Last week he vowed to absent himself from the latest politico Lansdowne Road agreement pay rises, which come into effect over the next two years.
The President advised the Government of his intention to donate 23.5 per cent of his salary to the state at the outset of his term in office. A spokesman for Mr Higgins said the situation remained unchanged, and there was no plan to roll back on this voluntary donation.
The 2011 decision brought the President’s salary to the current figure of €249,014 per annum which has been maintained over the intervening years.
The move was legislated for in the Oireachtas, and will apply to the next holder of the office.
TDs have not been singing from the same patriotic hymn sheet and will receive pay rises on April Fools’ Day (I’m not making this up), and again in 2018.
They will receive €2,700 on April 1st and the same again in 2018, increasing their salaries from €87,258 to €92,658.
Government ministers have already agreed not to take the extra €3,900 due to be paid to them on April 1st next year, and also to forego the same amount due in each of the following two years, which would have brought their salaries back from €157,540 to €169,275.
The payment are due to all public servants who fall under the auspices of the Lansdowne Road deal.
The President, who is paid by a different mechanism to other public servants, took a €76,493 cut against a base-line salary of €325,507 five years ago.
His predecessor Mary McAleese took a similar pay cut when the financial crisis broke. The President also donates his Oireachtas pension entitlement to the state. During his seven year term in office, he pledged not to draw down any pension entitlements arising from his previous service as a member of the Oireachtas or as a Government minister. Look across the pond at President wannabe Trump and be thankful we have this guy for another few years!