What kind of president do we want?

Dear Editor, There is a lot of discussion at present as to whether President Michael D. Higgins will – or indeed should – seek a second term as Uachtarán na hÉireann. Indeed, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is 16 years older than the President is now and shows no sign of slowing down. Pope Francis is 79, and maintains a busy schedule including overseas travel.

Latest statistics released by Buckingham Palace for last year reveal that the Queen carried out 341 official engagements during 2015. 

While the Vatican doesn’t release statistics for how many engagements Pope Francis performs in a year, statistics for 2014 reveal that the Pope drew some six million people to his Vatican-based audiences, not to mention the number of foreign engagements he undertook and, indeed, events within Italy.

A quick perusal of the website of Áras an Uachtaráin reveals that this past week President Higgins attended a play in Galway on Monday evening and another play in Galway the following evening. 

On Thursday, the President hosted a lunch at Áras an Uachtaráin for the departing British ambassador and later that afternoon received a delegation from the California State Assembly Irish Caucus.

The diary of public engagements is similarly sparse for other weeks. This is in marked contrast to the presidencies of both Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson when it was not uncommon to see the president have more than a dozen engagements in the same week.

This is not a criticism of Mr Higgins, who is now 10 years older than the age at which most people would be retired, but Irish citizens need to think seriously about the sort of presidency we want. 

And, for me, the point to be considered is whether we want an expansive community-based vision of the presidency, or a vision more attuned to the model of an elder statesperson who gives a few set-piece speeches.

The Bible reminds us that our natural lifespan is “threescore years and ten” or fourscore years if we are strong. Perhaps Mr Higgins should be grateful for the opportunity to have occupied the highest office in the land and consider enjoying his retirement.

Yours etc.,

Mary Kelly, 

Crumlin, Dublin 12