Colin Sheridan: Michael D Higgins' record as an advocate for human rights is unimpeachable

President has the courage and intellect to articulate carefully chosen sentiments of empathy and concern for events both past and present

President Michael D Higgins is that rarest of things in modern politics — a public representative unafraid to tell the truth.

I once met Michael D Higgins in the university library when I was an undergrad. It was in between the aisles of Contemporary American Literature and Epistemology. I was wearing my military uniform (as I was obliged to), while he was attired in the battle fatigues of a seasoned academic.

Michael D is famously small in stature and I, well, am rather tall, so the chance encounter in such a confined space took on a rather comical air.