PRESIDENT MICHAEL D Higgins has said that a stroke he experienced earlier this year continues to affect him physically, but that he is still cognitively sharp.

Asked about his health in a doorstep interview at the National Ploughing Championships today, President Higgins said: “It’s very straightforward. On 29 February, I had a mild stroke in my office. It affected my left side. It had no effect on me cognitively.”

He said he is receiving physiotherapy to help with his balance, which was impacted, and now uses two sticks when walking.

He added: “I have, from previous times, very heavy arthritis, so the combination of all these occasionally means that I can’t run quite like I did.”

President Michael D Higgins during the UEFA Nations League match between the Republic of Ireland and Greece at the Aviva Stadium on 10 September Mairead Maguire Mairead Maguire

The President also thanked everyone for their concern.

“The people of Ireland have been wonderful, kind, considerate and appreciative of the fact that I need, in fact, to go to a seat in a different stadium a bit slower.

“But their enthusiasm and mind for sport remains the same.”

During a speech at the Ploughing Championships today, President Higgins said it was wonderful to see so many young people in attendance.

“It is they who will make the changes we need. Their presence here is a testament to the enduring importance of farming and rural life in Ireland, but is also a reminder that our shared future depends on them.

We must ensure that we leave them a world that is sustainable, prosperous, and at peace.

In a message for the people of Laois today, the President said: ”Appreciate the sun. Be kind to each other. And may your kindness exceed the suns beyond today.”

Later this week, he will travel to New York to address the Summit of the Future, where he will “concentrate especially on what shape a United Nations needs to have to be genuinely representative of the peoples of the world in all their diversity”.

He said there he will emphasise the role of food producers in creating a sustainable and peaceful world.

“According to the latest Global Report on Food Crises, dangerous levels of acute hunger affected a staggering 281.6 million people last year – the fifth year in a row that food insecurity has worsened. In Sudan alone, half of the country’s population of 50 million are now facing food insecurity and famine,” said President Higgins.

“UNICEF has told us the recent severe drought that has impacted large swathes of Southern Africa has resulted in almost 300,000 children being threatened by severe acute malnutrition in the six drought-affected countries.”

These challenges, he says, are exacerbated by the debt many countries harbour and lack of spending on necessities.

“How shameful it is that this is taking place in a world where military expenditure has soared to unprecedented levels, reaching $2.44 trillion in 2023—the highest ever recorded,” he said.

“When one thinks of what could be achieved if such sums were not deferred to preparations for war.”