Here's what Michael D Higgins will be getting up to on Christmas Day

President Higgins said that it would be a working Christmas, with 16 pieces of legislation to be signed by him between 25 and 27 December.

Uachtarán na hÉireann Michael D. Higgins said in an interview with Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh that it will be a working Christmas for him this year, with 16 pieces of legislation to be signed between December 25 and 27.

Although despite being busy, Higgins is looking forward to having the family all together, with one son returning from abroad.

Bláthnaid also asked President Higgins his thoughts on Christmas and it was the those caught up in homelessness who were to the forefront of his mind.

He said the crisis grieves him greatly and he believes a radical approach is the only option.

It grieves me to think about those who are homeless, those on the streets. We can’t continue to accept things as they are, I believe that we must do something radical

Reflecting on 2018, the President said that it was a very important year for women’s rights, recalling that even as recently as 1974 when he married Sabina that the marriage ban was still in place.

He said that young people’s positivity towards the Irish language and their commitment to using the language was something that gave him great joy, and that he hoped to visit the Irish communities in Liverpool and Birmingham in 2019.

Bláthnaid Libh will be broadcast on Saturday 22 December from 10.15 am – 12 pm on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta