'A president for all the people': Celebrating 80 years of Michael D Higgins

In honour of the president's birthday, we went through the archives to track through the historic politician's long life

President Higgins turns 80 today. Picture: Joe Giddens/Getty Images

Michael D Higgins wears many caps: politician, father, husband, teacher, poet, keen Galway supporter. Of course, there’s also his current role as president, and few countries have as much love for their leaders as the Irish do for Michael D Higgins.

From recession recovery and protests to fights for equality and a pandemic, the past decade has thrown a lot at our ninth president since he was first elected in 2011. Yet through thick and thin, ‘Miggeldy’ has remained a national treasure that the population is proud to present on the national stage.