AMID MUCH TALK of who is to next take up the office of president, the current president is reflecting on his career and looking forward to reading, spending time with his grandchildren, and the ‘great move’.

Michael D Higgins was speaking on Second Captains Saturday on RTÉ Radio One this afternoon. 

The Second Captains’ show is hosted by Eoin McDevitt and Ciarán Murphy, who are in search of “the Greatest Non-Sportsperson Sportsperson”. Previous guests include Brendan Gleeson, Conan O’Brien, Anne Enright, and Siobhán McSweeney.

Higgins, whose presidency is nearing its end after almost 14 years in the Áras, spoke on the show about his upbringing and involvement in sport from his childhood, as well as his writing and political advocacy for the people of Palestine. 

Describing himself as a “very bad hurler”, he talked about growing up with his aunt and uncle from the age of five and his school days. On hurling, he said, ” I ended up in the usual place you put people of dubious quality, which was a kind of cornerback”, but he also reflected on his days playing handball – which, by all accounts, he was very good at.

He is to return to his home in Rahoon, Co Galway after the election, and he has been preparing to do so, beginning with his large collection of books. Many have been donated to the University of Galway, Higgins’s alma mater, as well as public libraries across the country.

He spoke briefly about his stroke in February of last year, which has left him walking with the assistance of two sticks.

Before he leaves office, however, “there are projects I’m continuing abroad as well as at home. And I do think I will run a few significant things that I haven’t really got to deal with that I want to put more on, and that is in relation the elimination of violence against women.

“I also want to do a few more things, because all my life, I have been meeting the travellers and so forth, and I will probably do something. So there are a number of pieces that I have to finish before we go for the inauguration of my successor.”

He refused to comment on what he would like to see in his successor. “All I know is that I’ll do my best to have the place looking all right.”

Higgins has been an outspoken advocate for the people of Gaza and has had no qualms in decreeing it a genocide and calling upon the UN to intervene. 

Yesterday, a famine was officially declared in Gaza. 

“We’re at the realm of non-accountability,” Higgins said, “and we are in an extraordinary moment where you have three members of [the Israeli] Cabinet who are interested explicitly in illegality, but they’re not worried about international law.

“And the other thing which is now proposed, which is a disaster, is in fact, breaking the link between the West Bank and Gaza. The realm of unaccountability is the most dangerous threat to democracy.”

He said again that he has been highlighting a UN mechanism called Chapter seven, which he said would enable a force to be assembled to guarantee humanitarian access to Gaza.

“I have sat with people in tents in Gaza and in West Bank and elsewhere in one of my last visits. One of the things that moved me most was reading a medical report that showed that Palestinian children are more traumatised by the humiliation of their parents than by the death of either.”

Higgins is to leave Áras an Uachtaráin in November following the election.