The flower-power president

TO talk to Michael D Higgins is to walk with giants.Within minutes he has compared himself to Picasso and name-dropped friends such as Yehudi Menuhin and Peter O’Toole.

The Labour presidential candidate also expresses satisfaction at the lack of “thick” hippies at Electric Picnic and concedes that, given his pro-Palestinian campaigning, elements within the Israeli security state would be as displeased about him becoming president as they would have been with David Norris.

When we meet, Michael D is still on a high from his first foray into the festival circuit at Electric Picnic, where he rubbed shoulders on the bill with other notable old timers such as Public Enemy and Pulp.