President removed face mask for 'brief' photo ops in Galway bookshops

President Michael D Higgins was pictured in a Galway bookshop without a face mask.

President Michael D Higgins removed his face covering for a number of “brief” photo opportunities in two Galway bookshops last week, Áras an Uachtaráin has said, after the president was pictured without a mask in an apparent breach of Covid-19 regulations.

Photos shared on social media last Thursday showed Mr Higgins signing copies of his new book and speaking with staff in Charlie Byrne’s and Kennys Bookshop without a face covering.

It has been mandatory to wear a mask in shops since August 2020, and failure to do so can result in a fine and up to one month’s imprisonment in respect of a first offence.

The requirement was introduced in regulations made under amendments to the Health Act that President Higgins himself signed into law in March 2020.

Upon signing the bill, he said: “These new health and social measures may be difficult for many but they affect us all and we are at a point now when a person’s actions have consequences not only for themselves but for all in society.

“Irresponsible individual action puts all at risk,” he added.

Mr Higgins was pictured without a mask in several photographs shared online by Kennys Bookshop, Charlie Byrne’s and the president’s own social media accounts. In one image, he was the only one of 15 people in the photo without a face covering as he posed with members of staff.

President Higgins today called into Kenny’s Bookshop, @KennysBookshop, to sign copies of his book, ‘Reclaiming The European Street.’ pic.twitter.com/aV2XrLGL1p

— President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) August 5, 2021

He was in Galway to sign copies of his new book, Reclaiming the European Street, which is a collection of his speeches on Europe since 2016. All proceeds from sales of the book are being donated to the Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin.

Áras an Uachtaráin declined to say whether the president breached public health regulations by removing his mask while in the bookshops, but a spokesman said that he was without his face covering only briefly.

“The president wore his mask throughout his visits in support of local bookstores and only took his mask off for a number of brief posed photographs, for the shops’ archives,” said the spokesman.

“Social distancing was observed throughout,” he added.