HIGGINS’S AGE WILL BE A BIG ISSUE
THE delicate issue of 77-year-old President Michael D Higgins’s capacity to serve effectively in office for the next seven years is poised to become a key element of what is expected to become an increasingly dirty Presidential campaign.
Intriguingly, the issue was raised by Fine Gael who have taken the decision to not run a candidate and are supporting Mr Higgins.
One Fine Gael minister however, warned: ‘Put bluntly, the question will be asked as to whether Michael D will be able to function effectively as an 84-year-old President. He is fine now, but seven years is a long time’. Separately, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learnt that concern is growing within the Government over the long-term capacity of Mr Higgins to be an effective ambassador for Ireland in critical long-haul trade trips.
President Higgins has expressed absolute faith in his capacity to fulfil the job specification and is believed by many to be in a better state of health than seven years ago when the campaign was dominated by his knee operation.
But one minister noted: ‘Rightly or wrongly, we are already factoring in the President’s age as an issue in long trips abroad’.
He is, they said, ‘fine in terms of the UK and Europe, but when it comes to South America or the Far East, he is raced as lightly as possible’. An analysis of the President’s diary for the first six months of this year reveals that he has made six foreign trips with five being confined to Europe and a sixth to America.
Meanwhile, the President also attended or hosted a modest 136 public events.
One minister warned: ‘There is no issue with transport, he can get on the plane and sit on it all right, but you would not be putting him down to meet six delegations a day in Korea’.
The issue of capacity was also raised by the possible Presidential contender Pádraig Ó Céidigh who said some form of health check should be required for candidates.
‘It should confirm the capacity or otherwise of candidates,’ he said.