Based on the preliminary indications, Michael D Higgins will be the Irish president for the next 7 years. This was not my preference, but I am not dismayed. In the end the president can’t do much anyway and i am sure Higgins will do an ok job.
However, I was hoping that Aras an Uachterain would not just a retirement home for a has-been politician and unfortunately that’s what it most likely will be.
Higgins might have been a strong and convincing politician in his younger years, but recently he is more known for citing poetry and for speaking in Irish.
The two previous presidents (Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese) had the same limited ability to achieve anything of substance, but they did push the boundaries a little. I expect that Higgins will not push anything.
He won’t screw up anything either, so no progress was made, no step forward and nothing beneficial to expect, but his probably election is no terrible disaster. …just a bit of a disappointment.
Considering that he is already too old for the role, we can be quite certain that he won’t stay longer in it than 7 years.
