In May, President Michael D Higgins took the second of two trips to the Vatican this year as he attended the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV.
The first trip, the previous month, was for the funeral of Pope Francis.
Footage from the second visit shows Mr Higgins, who turned 84 in April, meeting Pope Leo, approaching him with the aid of two walking sticks.
The mobility issues were familiar to anyone who has observed the President at recent public appearances whether it be attendance at sporting events or garden parties for community groups at Áras an Uachtaráin.
RM Block
As the President nears the end of his second term in office, the trips for events surrounding the papal succession are Mr Higgins’s only overseas engagements so far this year.
An Irish Times analysis of his diary shows trips outside Dublin on the island of Ireland have also fallen back.
And the overall number of public engagements involving the President have almost halved from more than 28 per month in 2019 – the first full year of his second term – to about 15 per month this year and last.
The reduction in Mr Higgins’s engagements schedule is understandable given the stroke he suffered at the end of February 2024.
[ The presidency is not a Rose of Tralee contest for over-35sOpens in new window ]
Little over a week later he made a public appearance voting in the family and care referendums. Within two months he delivered a lengthy speech at the University of Manchester, took questions and met attendees over the course of some three hours.
What Mr Higgins has himself described as a “form of mild stroke” – coupled with pre-existing arthritis – left physical, but not cognitive effects. It has affected his left side and balance.
The President continues to perform all of his constitutional duties, including considering and signing Bills into law, carrying out judicial appointments and conducting other official roles such as welcoming ambassadors and world leaders.
Mr Higgins remains outspoken on issues such as the horror in Gaza and has delivered speeches at arenas such as the United Nations and attended commemorations, including the 50th anniversary of the bombings in Dublin and Monaghan.
He is not alone among the ranks of Irish presidents in dealing with the vagaries of age. For instance, Ireland’s first president Douglas Hyde used a wheelchair after suffering a stroke at the age of 80. He remained president for five more years.
However, the current office holder is living in a mass media era, and the visibility of the challenges of older age in high office are perhaps more evident today.
Mr Higgins himself spoke about his mobility issues at the National Ploughing Championships last September.
He told reporters at the time: “As I’m coming through the physiotherapy, sometimes I have balance problems and that’s why I would use [the sticks].
“I have from previous times very heavy arthritis – so the culmination of all of this occasionally means I can’t run quite like I did.”
The entries in the engagements diary published by Áras an Uachtaráin shows Mr Higgins’s 2019 schedule listing 344 items; travel to Britain, a State visit to Germany, a trip to New York where he addressed the United Nations General Assembly and a trip that included stops in Greece, Cyprus and Lebanon. There were 29 trips in Ireland outside Dublin that included 42 engagements.
Diary entries dropped in 2020 (156) and 2021 (152) due to restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic. During that period Mr Higgins sought to engage with people in other ways, including recording more than 150 video messages.
The President’s diary showed 252 engagements in 2022, including five overseas trips, and 208 engagements in 2023, including four trips abroad.
In 2022, there were 21 trips within Ireland including 26 engagements outside Dublin and the corresponding number for 2023 was 16 trips and 23 engagements.
In the diary in 2024, the year he suffered the stroke, there were 174 engagements listed, including two visits overseas, to Manchester and New York.
As of July 23rd this year, Mr Higgins’s diary has 105 entries including the two trips to Rome and the Vatican.
The Áras outlined how Mr Higgins engaged with at least 29 world leaders and other dignitaries during the trips to New York and Rome, including with former US president Joe Biden and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
This year has seen four trips and five engagements outside of Dublin, including delivery of the keynote address at the National Famine Commemoration in Co Limerick.
A 1,500-word running statement from the Áras sets out details of Mr Higgins’s activities during his second term.
It said serving as Ireland’s ninth president has been the “greatest honour” of Mr Higgins’s life and he “appreciates the strong bond and support which he has had with the Irish people”.
It outlined how “over the last month alone” the President has, among other engagements, completed this year’s series of seven garden parties, has met dignitaries including the director general of the World Health Organisation and the president of Lithuania, held an Article 28 meeting with the Taoiseach, and attended the National Day of Commemoration, the All-Ireland Hurling Final and the funeral of Brother Kevin Crowley.
The statement said the President and his wife Sabina have also continued to open up the Áras, welcoming between 15,000 to 20,000 people per year – often from disadvantaged groups – to garden parties, concerts and other occasions.
“It is also important to note that the number of courtesy calls and visits do not reflect the entirety of the role,” the statement said, and that the President “spends a significant amount of time” preparing speeches and partaking in meetings.
It said Mr and Mrs Higgins are “very conscious of their role as public figures and the opportunity which it presents them to show empathy, understanding and provide a degree of inspiration to those suffering from their own challenges”.
“It is for this reason that they have both chosen to speak publicly about the health challenges which they have faced in recent years – in President Higgins’ case his stroke and, in Sabina’s case, her experience with breast cancer.
“While the President’s stroke has impacted on the care he must take with his balance and mobility, it is the President’s strong hope that his facing of these challenges will have been a source of support and encouragement for others who have suffered from the condition and served as a positive example of all the things that those suffering from a stroke can in many cases continue to do, regardless of their age,” the statement said.
Mr Higgins was aged 70 when he fought and won the 2011 presidential election. Questions raised about his age during the race were viewed by many as ageist.
During that campaign he indicated he would not seek a second term, though at his final press conference he did leave the door open to the possibility.
A reporter put the question to him and he replied: “Well, I can’t predict the love of a nation.”
At the launch of his re-election campaign in 2018, Mr Higgins was asked about his age by reporters.
Then 77, he said: “My health is excellent... I am very fit and I am really looking forward to getting into the campaign.”
He added: “I have much more energy than in 2011 because I got my knee done [operated on].
“I don’t drink and don’t smoke and I have a yoga teacher.”
Mr Higgins romped home to victory in the 2018 election with more than 822,000 first-preference votes.
One source who attended last month’s Bloomsday Garden Party at the Áras, where Mr Higgins is said to have delivered an hour-long speech, said: “He’s still sharp as a pin.”
In the statement to The Irish Times, the Áras argued that implication of the newspaper’s queries “would appear to be that challenges with mobility should be considered a bar on the ability of someone to do the job of President”.
It added: “This is a deeply disappointing position and one that is completely out of keeping with academic opinions on positive ageing.”
The statement highlighted a 2018 letter to The Irish Times from Professor Rose Anne Kenny which criticised questions raised at the time about Mr Higgins’s suitability to seek a second term because of his age as “blatantly ageist”.
The seven-year presidential term is very long with an often-gruelling schedule.
The two current contenders in the upcoming election – Fine Gael’s Mairead McGuinness and Independent TD Catherine Connolly – though younger than Mr Higgins when he ran in 2011 – may yet face questions over whether they would still wish to be president 14 years from now.
